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The lockdown effects on a pediatric obese population in the COVID-19 era
M Valenzise1, F D'Amico2, U Cucinotta2
1Department of Human Pathology of Adulthood and Childhood, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. mvalenzise@unime.it.
Insights
The COVID-19 lockdown negatively impacted lifestyle behaviors in obese children, increasing sedentary activity and meal frequency. Parental education level correlated with dietary changes, highlighting potential long-term health risks.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic induced significant lifestyle changes, particularly affecting pediatric populations.
- Overweight and obese children faced greater challenges due to increased sedentary behavior, poor diet, and social distancing during home confinement.
- These factors hindered weight management efforts in at-risk children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on behavioral changes in obese and overweight children.
- To explore the correlation between new lifestyle habits and parental educational attainment.
- To assess changes in weight, BMI, and biochemical parameters pre- and post-lockdown.
Main Methods:
- The study included 40 overweight and obese pediatric patients from Messina, Italy.
- Evaluated weight, BMI, and biochemical markers (cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, transaminases).
- Assessed changes in diet, physical activity, and sedentary behavior post-lockdown, correlating with parental education levels.
Main Results:
- A significant increase in daily meals was observed during lockdown (5 vs 3.2, P < 0.001).
- Children with parents having a primary school diploma consumed more meals than those with secondary school diplomas (P=0.0019).
- 95% of patients engaged in low physical activity, and 97.5% increased sedentary time; BMI increased, but biochemical parameters showed no significant pre- to post-lockdown correlation.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 lockdown adversely affected healthy lifestyle maintenance in overweight and obese children.
- While immediate biochemical markers were unaffected, long-term consequences remain a concern.
- Sustained high sedentary activity and meal frequency may lead to future metabolic complications.
Background:
The social consequences of COVID-19 pandemic are universally known. In particular, the pediatric population is dealing with a radical lifestyle change. For some risk categories, such as overweight or obese children, the impact of home confinement has been greater than for others. The increased sedentary life, the wrong diet and social distancing have stopped the chance of losing weight. The aims of this study were to analyse the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the behavior changes in a obese pediatric population and to explore the correlation between the new lifestyle and the level of parental instruction.
Methods:
Data show features of 40 obese and overweight pediatric patients of our Clinic in Messina (Italy). We evaluated weight, height, BMI and other biochemical parameters: total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglyceride, transaminases, glycemia and insulinemia. After the lockdown, we contacted all patients in order to get some information about diet, physical activity and sedentary lifestyle changes in correlation to the level of their parents' instruction. Additionally, we also evaluated 20 children twice from a clinical and laboratory perspective.
Results:
The study showed an increase of daily meals during COVID-19 lockdown (3.2 ± 0.4 vs 5 ± 1, P < 0.001). In particular, children whose parents have primary school diploma ate a greater significant number of meals during the lockdown, compared to those who have parents with secondary school diploma (P = 0.0019). In addition, the 95% of patients did low physical activity during the lockdown and the 97.5% spent more time in sedentary activity. Even if BMI's values don't show significant differences, they have increased after the lockdown. We didn't find any correlation between biochemical parameters before and after the lockdown.
Conclusion:
The lockdown has had bad consequences on good style of life's maintenance in overweight and obese children. The absence of a significant correlation between the worsening of biochemical parameters and the lockdown doesn't allow to exclude any long-term consequences. It's safe to assume that, if the hours spent in sedentary activity and the number of meals don't diminish, there will probably repercussion on the biochemical parameters.
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