Background: There is concern that pandemic measures put a strain on the health and well-being of children. We investigated the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown, and social distancing on the well-being, media use, and emotions of children and adolescents between 9 and 18 years. Methods:We used linear and proportional odds logistic regression correcting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status (SES) and to compare media use, peers/social support, physical, and psychological well-being between 2019 (pre-COVID baseline) and two time points shortly after the start of the lockdown (last week of March and April 2020, respectively) in 391 9-19-year-old healthy children and adolescents of the LIFE Child cohort. COVID-19-related feelings and their relationship to age, sex, and SES were assessed at two time points during lockdown. Results:We found significantly lower scores in physical and psychological wellbeing during lockdown compared to baseline. The effect was significantly stronger in children with medium/low SES. Perceived social support scores were also significantly lower during the lockdown. The percentage of children who had no contact with their peers (in-person or online) increased from 3% pre-COVID to 14% and 13% in April and March 2020, respectively. About 80% of the children missed in-person contacts with friends. Most of the children worried more about the health of their families than their own. Sixty percent worried about the international situation at least moderately, whereas only 20% were afraid of COVID-19 itself. The percentage of children who believed it would never be as before COVID-19 rose from 7.4% at the beginning lockdown end of March to 16.2% a month later. In contrast, all other COVID-19-related worries, showed a (nonsignificant) decline during the same period. Conclusion:Our study supports the notion that pandemic measures have to be balanced against adverse public health effects. Especially vulnerable groups have to be protected. -19, wellbeing, worries, children, adolescents This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. K E Y W O R D S COVID

Aim In spring 2020, the first Covid-19-related lockdown included the closing of kindergartens and schools. Home schooling, the lack of social contacts with peers and the care of the children at home posed an enormous challenge for many families. Methods The present study investigated the leisure behavior of 285 one- to 10-year-old German children at two time points (t1 and t2) during the Covid-19-related lockdown in spring 2020. In the subsample of primary school children (n = 102), we also explored children’s attitudes towards schoolwork at home. Analyses focused on the change of behavior from t1 to t2, on differences in these changes depending on socio-economic status (SES), and on associations of behavior with SES, the number of children at home, and the frequency of receiving learning materials from school. Results While the frequency of playing outside increased significantly from t1 to t2, the frequency of handicrafts, playing board games, indoor sports, and motivation to do schoolwork decreased. The observed changes between t1 and t2 did not differ depending on SES. However, a lower SES was associated with higher media use, less outdoor activity, and (though only marginally significant) a reduced time doing schoolwork and a reduced ability to concentrate on schoolwork at t1. In households with more children, children played outside more often, but were read to less frequently and (though only marginally significant) watched movies and series less frequently. Children receiving learning materials from school on a regular basis spent significantly more time doing schoolwork at home than children receiving materials only irregularly. Conclusions A continuing loss of childcare in day-care facilities and schools entails the danger of declining education in the form of (inter)active indoor activities and schoolwork.

In addition to socioeconomic factors experienced discrimination should be taken into account as a psycho-social stressor of migrants.

Childhood obesity is a major concern for public health. There are multiple factors (e.g., genetic, social, and environmental) that contribute to unhealthy weight gain. Drawing from findings on "obesogenic environments" and core principles of preventive strategies to reduce health inequalities, this paper gives an overview of recent childhood prevention programs that target aspects of the physical environment ("environmental changes"). Out of the ten reviews we screened (including more than 300 studies), we identified very few that addressed aspects of the environment. We focus here on 14 programs that follow different approaches to environmental changes (e.g., access to/quality of playgrounds, changes in school cafeterias). Altering the environment offers opportunities for healthier behaviors and seems to be an effective strategy to prevent childhood obesity. However, the evaluation of those (mostly) multidimensional interventions does not allow drawing firm conclusions about the single effect of environmental changes. We conclude that obesity prevention programs should combine person-based and environmental approaches.