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Impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on the anthropometric development in primary school children in the Rhein-Neckar Region,
Azat Samigullin1,2, Gabriel Groß3, Jana Gählert4
1Starscience GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany. azat.samigullin@starscience.de.
Insights
Contrary to expectations, children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health
- Public health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- COVID-19 lockdowns may have impacted children's weight development.
- Previous studies suggest negative effects on pediatric weight.
- This study investigates post-lockdown anthropometric changes in German primary school children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess overweight and obesity prevalence post-COVID-19 lockdowns.
- To analyze anthropometric development in primary school children.
- To evaluate the impact of lockdowns on children's weight status.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study design with schools from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Voluntary participation with informed consent.
- Collection of anthropometric, nutritional, physical activity, and socioeconomic data via questionnaires between Oct 2021-Jul 2022.
- Calculation of zBMI and weight categories using German reference data.
Main Results:
- 256 children (mean age 8.0 years) participated; most from above-average income households.
- Prevalence: 5.1% overweight, 4.7% obese, 15.6% underweight, 74.6% normal weight.
- Mean zBMI was -0.25, significantly lower than the German reference population (p < 0.001).
- zBMI decreased significantly between U9 and study visit (p=0.02), particularly in overweight/obese children (p=0.028).
Conclusions:
- Mean zBMI significantly decreased in the studied children, contradicting some prior reports.
- No significant zBMI changes between U8 and U9 suggest lockdown measures may have contributed to the decrease.
- Study registered as NCT05077059 on clinicaltrials.gov.
Background:
Published data suggests that lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic may have negatively affected children's weight development. This study aims to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity after the COVID-19 lockdowns as well as anthropometric development among primary school children in the Rhein-Neckar Region, Germany.
Methods:
In this cross-sectional study, schools were selected in cooperation with the local health authority to include different socioeconomic backgrounds. Participation was voluntary at school and individual level, requiring written informed consent from legal guardians. Study visits in schools were conducted between October 2021 and July 2022. Anthropometric data from nationally recommended medical examinations at 4 years (U8) and 5 years (U9), data on nutrition, physical activity, and socioeconomic data was collected using questionnaires. zBMI and weight category were calculated based on German reference data.
Results:
256 children with a mean age of 8.0 years (7.1-9.3 years) were included in the study. Most participants were from households with an above average income. 5.1% of the children were overweight, 4.7% were obese, 15.6% were underweight, and 74.6% were normal weight with a mean zBMI of -0.25 (SD 1.10), which is significantly lower than the mean zBMI of the German reference population (p < 0.001). No significant changes in zBMI were observed between U8 and U9 (p = 0.16). The mean zBMI decreased by 0.17 (SD 0.72) between U9 and the study visit (p = 0.02). A zBMI decrease of 0.5 was documented for the subgroup of overweight and obese children (p = 0.028) as well as a decrease of 0.23 (SD 0.63) for the normal-weight children subgroup (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Contrary to previous reports mean zBMI decreased significantly in the children studied. No significant changes in zBMI were observed between U8 and U9 examinations, which supports the hypothesis that the decrease in zBMI could be attributed to lockdown measures. The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov on September 21st 2021 under the registration number NCT05077059.
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