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Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children
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The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on young children's biological ageing

Jessica F Sperber Knott1, Melissa Miller2, Ariel Bellatin2

  • 1Max Planck Research Group Biosocial-Biology, Social Disparities, and Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.

Child Development
|March 24, 2026
PubMed

Insights

The COVID-19 pandemic had no significant impact on biological aging in early childhood. This study found no evidence of large effects of pandemic exposure on epigenetic aging trajectories in infants up to 30 months old.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Developmental Biology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic presented an unprecedented global health crisis.
  • Early childhood is a critical period for development, potentially sensitive to environmental stressors.
  • Biological aging, assessed via epigenetic clocks, offers a molecular measure of health and development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of exogenous COVID-19 pandemic exposure on biological aging in early childhood.
  • To examine epigenetic aging trajectories in infants experiencing varying durations of pandemic exposure.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study recruiting pregnant women in New York City in 2019.
  • Saliva samples collected from infants at 1 month and children at 30 months postpartum.
  • Epigenetic age assessed using saliva samples to determine biological aging trajectories.

Main Results:

  • Infants experienced varying exposure durations to the pandemic in their first year of life (0-9.5 months at pandemic onset).
  • Analysis revealed no substantial evidence of large effects of pandemic exposure on biological aging trajectories between 1 and 30 months of age.

Conclusions:

  • Early childhood exposure to the COVID-19 pandemic did not appear to significantly alter biological aging trajectories.
  • Further research may explore long-term effects or specific subpopulations.

Keywords:
COVID-19epigeneticslongitudinal

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