Lifestyle Changes and Determinants of Children’s and Adolescents’ Body Weight Increase during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Greece: The COV-EAT Study

Androutsos, Odysseas; Perperidi, Maria; Georgiou, Christos D.; Chouliaras, Giorgos

doi:10.3390/nu13030930

Cited by 163 publications

(270 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…In addition, almost half of the respondents reported unhealthy eating habits in children. Despite the short-term nature of the current study to make conclusions, this finding is consistent with that of Androutsos et al, who reported an increase of body weight by 35% of children/adolescents during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Greece associated with increased consumption of breakfast, salty snacks, and total snacks, and with decreased physical activity [ 37 ]. According to parents, children adopted unhealthy eating habits while staying at home.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Action and Reaction of Pre-Primary and Primary School-Age Children to Restrictions during COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece

Siachpazidou

Kotsiou

Chatziparasidis

et al. 2021

JPM

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The fast-spreading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced countries to apply restrictive measures to counteract it. School closure was quickly adopted by health authorities. We aimed to investigate the compliance of children aged 4 to 12 years with the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and evaluate the impact of school closure on the children’s educational, social, economic, and psychological outcomes. An online survey was distributed through a social networking platform to parents of pre-primary and primary school-age children. The study period was defined as from 27 November 2020 to 3 December 2020, two weeks after the school closure due to the general lockdown in Greece. This study showed that the school units were well-informed and complied with the protection measures against COVID-19. The pupils quickly adopted the protection measures, even those whose parents suggested masks were less effective. The quarantine-forced school closure highly impacted primary school children’s physical activity, quality of sleep, psychological status, eating habits, academic performance, and household income. Web use showed an increase, with the children over-spending extracurricular time in web activities. Our study highlights the need for long term monitoring of these aforementioned indices, and the development of COVID-19 mitigation measures that carefully incorporate effectiveness and societal impact.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Action and Reaction of Pre-Primary and Primary School-Age Children to Restrictions during COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece

Siachpazidou

Kotsiou

Chatziparasidis

et al. 2021

JPM

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“…In addition, increased sedentary time is likely due to a combination of boredom, free time, distance learning and online social activity. 31 In the present study, exercise volume was associated with weight change in women alone, possibly due to the low exercise volume both before and during the lockdown, far below the ACSM-recommended exercise volume (16.7 MET-hours/week), 15 and the change in exercise volume in the overall population being small. Various studies have looked into physical activity.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 53%

“…These findings are consistent with prior research showing sedentary behaviour, TV viewing and computer use being risk factors for the increased weight 29 30 and consistent with similar observations in Europe. 31 A possible reason behind this may be due to the general restraint to one's home and the greater availability of free time without requiring active travel to school/work. In addition, increased sedentary time is likely due to a combination of boredom, free time, distance learning and online social activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weight gain in Chinese youth during a 4-month COVID-19 lockdown: a retrospective observational study

et al. 2021

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ObjectivesTo observe the weight change in Chinese youth during a 4-month COVID-19 lockdown, and the association between weight change and mental health, physical activity and sedentary time changes, and dietary habits.DesignA retrospective observational study.SettingsTwo universities located in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces, China.ParticipantsThis study enrolled 12 889 college students whose body weight was measured before the lockdown (1 December 2019–20 January 2020) at the two universities, and reported their weight measured at home or community after the end of the lockdown (1–23 May 2020) via an online follow-up questionnaire.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome was the weight change in Chinese youth during a 4-month lockdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary outcomes were the relationships of weight change to COVID-19-related stress, depression, anxiety, physical activity and sedentary time changes, and dietary habits.ResultsParticipants’ ages ranged from 17 to 27 years (M=19, SD=1) with 80.2% identified as female. The average absolute and relative changes in body weight were 2.6 (95% CI 2.0 to 3.2)) kg and 4.2% (95% CI 4.0% to 4.3%) for men, and 2.1 (1.9 to 2.4) kg and 4.2% (95% CI 3.9% to 4.4%) for women. An increase in overweight and obese individuals according to Asian cut-off points as a demographic percentage by 4.5% and 2.7% and 4.8% and 3.4% in men and women, respectively (P<0.001), was observed. Weight gain was significantly associated with increased sedentary time and an increase in COVID-19-related stress and depression score.ConclusionThe present study’s results suggest that the risk of weight gain in Chinese youth during the lockdown increased and that strategies to decrease sedentary time and improve mental health may be warranted to mitigate weight gain during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…Accordingly, such preventive measures caused significant changes of lifestyle and dietary habits, with potential influence on metabolic health in the general population. In particular, a weight gain was often reported both in children 27,28 and in adults 29‐32 . A recent systematic review found that the social containment measures due to the COVID‐19 lockdown generated a weight gain in 7.2%‐72.4% of subjects 31 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiplying effects of COVID‐19 lockdown on metabolic risk and fatty liver

Shanmugam

Ciaula

Palo

et al. 2021

Eur J Clin Investigation

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Background Social containment measures imposed in Europe during the lockdown to face COVID‐19 pandemic can generate long‐term potential threats for metabolic health. Methods A cohort of 494 non‐COVID‐19 subjects living in 21 EU countries were interviewed by an anonymous questionnaire exploring anthropometric and lifestyle changes during 1‐month lockdown. A subgroup of 41 overweight/obese Italian subjects with previously diagnosed nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) joined the study following a 12‐month follow‐up period promoting weight loss by healthy lifestyle. Results During the lockdown, body weight increased in 55% of subjects (average 2.4 ± 0.9 kg). Weight change increased with age, but not baseline body mass index. Subjects living in Italy had greater weight gain than those living in other European Countries. Weight gain during the lockdown was highest in subjects reporting no physical activity, and low adherence to Mediterranean diet. In the NAFLD group, weight gain occurred in 70% of cases. Subjects reporting weight loss during lockdown had decreased fatty liver score at 3 months before the lockdown, as compared with 1 year before. Conclusions Strict measures of social containment—even short‐term—pave the way to the increased risk of metabolic abnormalities in the medium‐long term. In this context, adherence to Mediterranean diet and regular physical activity play a protective role both in terms of weight gain and fatty liver development/progression, with implication for primary and secondary prevention. When adopting measures imposing social containment, intensive educational campaigns must increase public awareness about beneficial effects of healthy lifestyles.

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Lifestyle Changes and Determinants of Children’s and Adolescents’ Body Weight Increase during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Greece: The COV-EAT Study

Cited by 163 publications

References 34 publications

Action and Reaction of Pre-Primary and Primary School-Age Children to Restrictions during COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece

Action and Reaction of Pre-Primary and Primary School-Age Children to Restrictions during COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece

Weight gain in Chinese youth during a 4-month COVID-19 lockdown: a retrospective observational study

Multiplying effects of COVID‐19 lockdown on metabolic risk and fatty liver

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