On What Tasks Did Children between the Ages of 3 and 12 Years Spend Their Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic? An International Comparative Study between Ibero-America and Europe.

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 meant, in many countries, the establishment of a period of confinement in which families were forced to restrict movement and social contacts with the consequent risk of inactivity. Our objective as to analyze the degree of psychosocial well-being, sociodemographic aspects and use of technological means depending on the educational level of the parents. The sample consisted of 2316 children aged between 3 and 12 years (M = 7.70; SD = 2.86). For the analysis and treatment of the data, the statistical software SPSS 25.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) was used. We found that the European participants used more video consoles (M = 0.89 ± 1.33) and tablets (M = 1.30 ± 0.95), while the Ibero-Americans obtained higher values in the use of TV (M = 2.28 ± 1.10) and levels higher in a negative state of psychosocial well-being (M = 7.29 ± 1.07) and in tiredness/fatigue (M = 4.34 ± 2.44). We concluded that, during the period of confinement in European areas, higher values were obtained in the time dedicated to Physical Activity (PA), use of tablets, school task performance, artistic activities, family games, reading, free play and hours of sleep; while in Ibero-America, there were longer times in the use of technological devices and performing domestic tasks.

Key Points in Air Pollution Meteorology.

Although emissions have a direct impact on air pollution, meteorological processes may influence inmission concentration, with the only way to control air pollution being through the rates emitted. This paper presents the close relationship between air pollution and meteorology following the scales of atmospheric motion. In macroscale, this review focuses on the synoptic pattern, since certain weather types are related to pollution episodes, with the determination of these weather types being the key point of these studies. The contrasting contribution of cold fronts is also presented, whilst mathematical models are seen to increase the analysis possibilities of pollution transport. In mesoscale, land-sea and mountain-valley breezes may reinforce certain pollution episodes, and recirculation processes are sometimes favoured by orographic features. The urban heat island is also considered, since the formation of mesovortices determines the entry of pollutants into the city. At the microscale, the influence of the boundary layer height and its evolution are evaluated; in particular, the contribution of the low-level jet to pollutant transport and dispersion. Local meteorological variables have a major influence on calculations with the Gaussian plume model, whilst some eddies are features exclusive to urban environments. Finally, the impact of air pollution on meteorology is briefly commented on.