COVID-19 Leads to Accelerated Increases in Children's BMI z-Score Gain: An Interrupted Time-Series Study

Weaver, R. Glenn; Hunt, Ethan; Armstrong, Bridget; Beets, Michael W.; Brazendale, Keith; Turner‐McGrievy, Gabrielle; Pate, Russell R.; Youngstedt, Shawn D.; Dugger, Roddrick; Parker, Hannah; Klinggraeff, Lauren von; Jones, Alexis; Burkart, Sarah; Ressor-Oyer, Layton

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2021.04.007

Cited by 68 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(86 reference statements)

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“…BMI for age was slightly higher in the 2020 COVID-19 context preschool group (16.4 ± 2.6 kg/m 2 ) compared to the 2019 group (15.8 ± 1.6 kg/m 2 ). This is consistent with reports worldwide that identify an increase in BMI as a result of COVID-19 in preschoolaged children [48][49][50], youth 6-12 years [51], and adults [52]. However, the increased BMI appears to conflict with the increased healthy eating CHEERS subscale, MVPA levels, and step count in the 2020 COVID-19 context preschoolers.…”

Section: Covid-19 and Preschooler's Bmisupporting

confidence: 90%

The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study

et al. 2021

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Early childhood education and care (ECEC) environments influence children’s early development and habits that track across a lifespan. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of COVID-19 government-mandated guidelines on physical activity (PA) and eating environments in ECEC settings. This cross-sectional study involved the recruitment of 19 ECEC centers pre-COVID (2019) and 15 ECEC centers during COVID (2020) in Alberta, Canada (n = 34 ECEC centers; n = 83 educators; n = 361 preschoolers). Educators completed the CHEERS (Creating Healthy Eating and activity Environments Survey) and MEQ (Mindful Eating Questionnaire) self-audit tools while GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometers measured preschooler PA. The CHEERS healthy eating environment subscale was greater during COVID-19 (5.97 ± 0.52; 5.80 ± 0.62; p = 0.02) and the overall score positively correlated with the MEQ score (r = 0.20; p = 0.002). Preschoolers exhibited greater hourly step counts (800 ± 189; 649 ± 185), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (9.3 ± 3.0 min/h; 7.9 ± 3.2 min/h) and lower sedentary times (42.4 ± 3.9 min/h; 44.1 ± 4.9 min/h) during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID, respectively (p < 0.05). These findings suggest the eating environment and indices of child physical activity were better in 2020, which could possibly be attributed to a change in government-mandated COVID-19 guideline policy.

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Section: Covid-19 and Preschooler's Bmisupporting

confidence: 90%

The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study

et al. 2021

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“…With the beginning of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions on physical activity and temporary bans (mostly during lockdown phases) on organized sports in general and in schools, the already serious obesity pandemic underwent a worrisome acceleration [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ] and health-related fitness scores showed dramatic decreases [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Mitigation Measures on the Health and Fitness Status of Primary School Children in Austria: A Longitudinal Study with Data from 708 Children Measured before and during the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

Jarnig

Kerbl

Poppel

2022

Sports

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The COVID-19-related closing of schools and sport facilities resulted in major changes to daily routines worldwide. It was the aim of this study to investigate the impact of COVID-19-related mitigation measures on the health and fitness status of primary school children in Austria. Seven hundred and eight primary school children (7–10 years old) participated in the longitudinal study. Data on height, weight, waist circumference, and fitness were collected before (September 2019) and during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic (20 June, 20 September, 21 March, 21 June). A significant increase in EQUI BMIAUT (ⴄp2 = 0.087) and significant changes (ⴄp2 = 0.355) in waist circumference were found. Cardiorespiratory endurance (ⴄp2 = 0.440) and action speed (ⴄp2 = 0.221) decreased dramatically following lockdowns/school closures. In contrast, muscle strength showed no significant changes. The COVID-19-related mitigation measures intended to contain a communicable disease resulted in an acceleration of the pre-existing pandemic of overweight and obesity. The adverse combination of increasing BMI and the loss of physical fitness is likely to result in long-term negative effects on the health status of growing and developing individuals. Health professionals should therefore not only support further longitudinal observations of this “non-communicable disease” but also support intervention programs to reverse this worrying side-effect of COVID-19-associated containment policies.

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“…We use the qualifier “biopsychosocial capture” to capture the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. These experiences include the biological exposure to the COVID-19 infection and the social and psychological experiences of the COVID-19 attenuation policies, which include lockdown, social distancing, loneliness, financial loss, unemployment [8], secondary health effects (e.g., weight gain) [9], and crime [10]. Many of these biopsychosocial pandemic adversities may be risk factors for psychosis, for example, loneliness [11] and social defeat [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biopsychosocial exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic and the relative risk of schizophrenia: Interrupted time-series analysis of a nationally representative sample

et al. 2022

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Background Studies of COVID-19 pandemic biopsychosocial exposure and schizophrenia risk showed contradictory results, were undertaken early in the pandemic, and did not consider lockdowns or COVID-19 infection. Hence, we examined the association between COVID-19 biopsychosocial exposure and incident schizophrenia. Methods An interrupted time-series study design was implemented based on Israeli electronic health records from 2013 to 2021 with national coverage. The period coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic biopsychosocial exposures from March 2020 to February 2021 was classified as exposed, otherwise unexposed. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on incident schizophrenia was quantified by fitting a Poisson regression and modeling the relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). Three scenarios were projected from the third lockdown to 10 months to forecast incident schizophrenia rates and their associated 95% prediction intervals (PI). Results The total population (N = 736,356) yielded 4,310 cases of incident schizophrenia over time. The primary analysis showed that the period exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a reduced RR (RR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.73, 0.91, p < 0.001). This conclusion was supported in 12 sensitivity analyses, including scrutinizing lockdowns and COVID-19 infection status. Two of three forecast scenarios projected an incident increase (6.74, 95% PI = 5.80, 7.84; 7.40, 95% PI = 6.36, 8.60). Conclusions The reduced risk of schizophrenia during the pandemic suggests no immediate triggering of new onsets either by the virus or the pandemic-induced psychosocial adversities. Once restrictions are lifted, the increased projected presentations have implications for clinicians and healthcare policy.

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COVID-19 Leads to Accelerated Increases in Children's BMI z-Score Gain: An Interrupted Time-Series Study

Cited by 68 publications

References 59 publications

The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study

The Impact of COVID-19 on Eating Environments and Activity in Early Childhood Education and Care in Alberta, Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Mitigation Measures on the Health and Fitness Status of Primary School Children in Austria: A Longitudinal Study with Data from 708 Children Measured before and during the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

Biopsychosocial exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic and the relative risk of schizophrenia: Interrupted time-series analysis of a nationally representative sample

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