Influence of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on the Prevalence of Overweight and Obese Czech Children

0562359 - ÚI 2023 RIV CH eng J - Journal Article
Vážná, A. - Vignerová, J. - Brabec, Marek - Novák, J. - Procházka, B. - Gabera, A. - Sedlák, P.
Influence of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on the Prevalence of Overweight and Obese Czech Children.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Roč. 19, č. 19 (2022), č. článku 11902. ISSN 1661-7827. E-ISSN 1660-4601
Institutional support: RVO:67985807
Keywords : COVID-19 * children * obesity * severe obesity * COVID-19-related-restrictions effect * GAM * semiparametric statistical modeling
OECD category: Statistics and probability
Impact factor: 4.614, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Open access
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191911902

Apart from influencing the health of the worldwide population, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the day-to-day life of all, including children. A sedentary lifestyle along with the transformation of eating and sleep habits took place in the child population. These changes created a highly obesogenic environment. Our aim was to evaluate the current weight in the child population and identify the real effects of the pandemic. Height and weight data were collected by pediatricians from the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods from 3517 children (1759 boys and 1758 girls) aged 4.71 to 17.33 years. We found a significant rise in the z-score BMI between pediatric visits in the years 2019 and 2021 in both sexes aged 7, 9, 11, and 13 years. Especially alarming were the percentages of (severely) obese boys at the ages of 9 and 11 years, which exceed even the percentages of overweight boys. With the use of statistical modeling, we registered the most dramatic increment at around 12 years of age in both sexes. Based on our research in the Czech Republic, we can confirm the predictions that were given at the beginning of the pandemic that COVID-19-related restrictions worsened the already present problem of obesity and excess weight in children.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0334703