Summary Background Home confinement during the COVID‐19 pandemic could have affected lifestyle behaviours of children, however evidence about it is emerging and yet scarce. Objectives To examine the effects of the COVID‐19 confinement on lifestyle behaviours in Spanish children, and to assess the influence of social vulnerabilities on changes in lifestyle behaviours. Methods Physical activity (PA), screen time, sleep time, adherence to the Mediterranean diet (KIDMED) and sociodemographic information were longitudinally assessed before (N = 291, 12.1 ± 2.4 years, 47.8% girls) and during the COVID‐19 confinement (N = 113, 12.0 ± 2.6 years, 48.7% girls) by online questionnaires. Results During the COVID‐19 confinement, PA (−91 ± 55 min/d, P < .001) and screen time (±2.6 h/d, P < .001) worsened, whereas the KIDMED score improved (0.5 ± 2.2 points, P < .02). The decrease of PA was higher in children with mother of non‐Spanish origin (−1.8 ± 0.2 vs −1.5 ± 0.1 h/d, P < .04) or with non‐university studies (−1.7 ± 0.1 vs −1.3 ± 0.1 h/d, P < .005) in comparison to their counterparts. Conclusion This study evidence the negative impact of the COVID‐19 confinement on PA levels and sedentary behaviours of Spanish children. These findings should be taken into account to design and implement public health strategies for preserving children´s health during and after the pandemic, particularly, in children with social vulnerabilities.

The authors' aim in this cross-sectional study was to characterize levels of objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in adolescents from 9 European countries. The study comprised 2,200 European adolescents (1,184 girls) participating in the HELENA cross-sectional study (2006-2008). Physical activity was measured by accelerometry and was expressed as average intensity (counts/minute) and amount of time (minutes/day) spent engaging in moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). Time spent in sedentary behaviors was also objectively measured. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by means of the 20-m shuttle run test. Level of maternal education was reported by the adolescents. A higher proportion of boys (56.8% of boys vs. 27.5% of girls) met the physical activity recommendations of at least 60 minutes/day of MVPA. Adolescents spent most of the registered time in sedentary behaviors (9 hours/day, or 71% of the registered time). Both average intensity and MVPA were higher in adolescents with high cardiorespiratory fitness, and sedentary time was lower in the high-fitness group. There were no physical activity or sedentary time differences between maternal education categories. These data provide an objective measure of physical activity and amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors in a relatively large number of European adolescents.

Maternal lifestyle during pregnancy and early nutrition and environment of their offspring´s are considered relevant factors for childhood obesity preventative efforts.There are several models for the prediction of childhood overweight and obesity, but most of them have not been externally validated and the factors considered differ greatly among studies since the outcomes are predicted at different ages. The objective of the current review is to examine and interpret the knowledge on the early determinants of childhood obesity development in order to provide relevant strategies for daily clinical work. For this purpose, we have evaluated all the identified prenatal and postnatal factors potentially associated to child adiposity from conception up to the end of the second year of life. Actions to be considered are promoting healthy nutrition and healthy weight status at reproductive age and during pregnancy and monitoring carefully infant growth in order to detect early excessive weight gain. Pediatricians and other health care professionals should provide proper scientific individual nutritional advice to families to counteract excessive adiposity in the offspring. Based on systematic reviews, original papers and scientific reports we provide information to help setting up public health strategies to prevent childhood overweight and obesity