Influence of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on the Prevalence of Overweight and Obese Czech Children

Abstract

Apart from influencing the health of the worldwide population, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the day-to-day life of all, including children. A sedentary lifestyle along with the transformation of eating and sleep habits took place in the child population. These changes created a highly obesogenic environment. Our aim was to evaluate the current weight in the child population and identify the real effects of the pandemic. Height and weight data were collected by pediatricians from the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods from 3517 children (1759 boys and 1758 girls) aged 4.71 to 17.33 years. We found a significant rise in the z-score BMI between pediatric visits in the years 2019 and 2021 in both sexes aged 7, 9, 11, and 13 years. Especially alarming were the percentages of (severely) obese boys at the ages of 9 and 11 years, which exceed even the percentages of overweight boys. With the use of statistical modeling, we registered the most dramatic increment at around 12 years of age in both sexes. Based on our research in the Czech Republic, we can confirm the predictions that were given at the beginning of the pandemic that COVID-19-related restrictions worsened the already present problem of obesity and excess weight in children.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity and its risk factors: a systematic review

“…Quality was assessed using the modified Newcastle–Ottawa Scale [ 19 ]. Out of included forty studies, 16 were classified as good quality [ 26 , 27 , 33 – 38 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 54 , 58 , 59 ] while twenty-four were also classified as satisfied [ 21 – 25 , 28 – 31 , 39 – 44 , 47 , 50 – 53 , 55 – 57 , 60 ]. Twenty-four articles were done on the adult population [ 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 28 – 30 , 36 , 38 , 42 – 44 , 46 , 48 – 50 , 55 , 57 – 59 ], five articles were done only adolescents [ 31 , 39 , 41 , 47 , 60 ], three research articles were also done on children [ 34 , 53 , 54 ], and finally, eight articles were done on both children and adolescents [ 21 , 24 , 27 , 33 , 37 , 45 , 52 , 56 ] as shown in Table 1 .…”

“…The current study identified that age which is a biological determinant was found to be one of the risk factors for obesity/ weight gain during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Twelve studies identified age as a significant contributing factor to obesity/weight gain [ 21 , 27 , 33 , 35 , 37 , 39 , 43 , 48 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 54 ]. The minimum mean age group reported ranged from mean 10.8 (SD = 0.46) [ 20 ] and the maximum mean age group reported was 47.9 (SD = 16) [ 36 ].…”

Pediatric overweight and obesity increased in Israel during the COVID-19 period

“…There have been numerous recent reports about childhood obesity rates during the COVID period. These reports have used various methods and have originated from various locations [ 7 , 8 , 10 , 13 , 14 , 17 ]. Two related reports about children treated in Kaiser Permanente of Southern California found increasing rates of overweight and obesity in that population during the COVID period.…”

Limitations in daily activities among people aged 65 and over, by gender, 2020

“…While full school closures occurred in almost all European countries, this was not the case in Sweden and Iceland and the length of closures varied significantly (see Figure 1.12 below). Source and age groups (for young people): France: Santé publique France (2022 [4]), https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/etudes-et-enquetes/coviprev-uneenquete-pour-suivre-l-evolution-des-comportements-et-de-la-sante-mentale-pendant-l-epidemie-de-covid-19 (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24); Belgium: Sciensano (2022 [6]) https://datastudio.google.com/embed/reporting/7e11980c-3350-4ee3-8291-3065cc4e90c2/page/ykUGC (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29); Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Sweden and Norway: Unnarsdóttir et al (2021 [7]) (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29); https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab234; United Kingdom (Great Britain): Office for National Statistics (2021 [13]), https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/datasets/coronavirusanddepressioninadultsingreatbritain (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)…”

“…The State of Vaccine Confidence in the EU 2020 survey showed that the share of respondents who strongly agreed that seasonal influenza vaccination was important rose by nearly 10 percentage points on average across EU countries between 2018 and 2020, and by over 10 percentage points for those who strongly agreed that seasonal influenza vaccination was safe. Overall, more than three-quarters (77%) of respondents considered that influenza vaccination was important and 80% that it was safe (Figueiredo et al, 2020 [7]).…”