Impact of the first COVID–19 lockdown on the lifestyle of elementary school children

Abstract

COVID-19 lockdown affects people's daily routine and has an impact on their lifestyle. Recent studies documented associations between body weight changes and children's lifestyle during social isolation. Childhood obesity is associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 severity and mortality. Our aim was to assess the effects of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic on children's sleep, screen time, physical activity, and eating habits. 387 parents of five elementary school students between 16 and 26 June 2020 were interviewed through an online questionnaire. Physical activity level decreased (63.8%), sleep (60.9%) and screen (5.64 ± 3.05 h/day) times and food intake (39.8%) increased. 80.6% of parents reported changes in children's diet: increased consumption of fruits and vegetables (32.4%), breakfast (15.5%), water and sugar-free beverages (17.6%), snacks (40.4%), sugary drinks (9.9%) was observed. Body weight increased in 44.4% of children. The results of the survey conducted under GYERE®-Children's Health Program are in line with the international literature findings: body weight change during the quarantine is significantly associated with food intake, snacking, sugary drinks, and we also found association with fruit and vegetable consumption and lack of breakfast. Effective strategies and electronic health interventions are needed to prevent sedentary lifestyle and obesity during lockdown.

Changes in eating behaviours and physical activity among primary schoolchildren aged 7–12 during the pandemic in the light of qualitative and quantitative research – Junior-Edu-Żywienie (JEŻ) Project

“…This could be related to the greater pressure exerted by parents staying at home with their children, specifically in the case of younger children [14]. Similar results were found by other researchers [9,11,12,16], who also indicating that snacks were more often eaten as evening or nighttime meals.…”

“…Respondents argued that it was often skipped before the pandemic due to the morning rush, the need to travel to school, and the accompanying morning emotions. Other authors have also noted an increase in breakfast consumption in families during the COVID-19 pandemic [10,12,16,53]. Some research, however, did not show changes in breakfast consumption [54], and others even indicated a decrease, compared to the pre-pandemic period [55,56], which may indicate a different reference point of the respondents.…”

“…Among the positive, researchers mention an increase in the consumption of home-cooked meals [8,9], the frequency of breakfast consumption [10], the number of meals consumed daily [11], as well as the increase in vegetable and fruit consumption [9,10], and the decrease in fast food consumption [9,11,12]. However, the negative changes included a rise in the consumption of snacks, sweets, and sweet drinks, and of the amounts of food in general [9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17], which may result in weight gain [18].…”

“…In numerous studies conducted around the world, the United Kingdom [19], Argentina [20,21], Austria [22], China [23], France [24,25], Greece [26,27], Spain [28], The Netherlands [29], Jordan [18], Canada [30,31], Germany [32,33], Poland [6,17,[34][35][36], Portugal [37], Singapore [38], South Korea [39], Hungary [16], and Italy [14], a decline in physical activity and an increase in screen time among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic were reported, caused by the closure of schools and the introduction of online teaching.…”

Assessing Sarcopenic Obesity Risk in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Grip-to-BMI Ratio

“…The pandemic has caused notable shifts in the daily routines of children. These changes include reduced physical activity, increased screen time, and alterations in dietary habits, all of which are consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (3,4). Research conducted during this period indicates an increase in weight among children and adolescents (5) For girls aged 6-8 years, the cut-off value for the MFR in the 3rd quintile, as determined by the BMI, was found to be ≤0.81, while for girls aged 9-10 years, it was ≤0.78.…”