‘Covid-19 lockdowns worsen childhood obesity’

Bans introduced worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted children’s diet, sleep, and physical activity, according to new research. Improper diet, longer screen time, and lack of regular exercise have all increased the incidence of obesity in children.

Body mass index (BMI) is a measure that uses height and weight to determine whether a person is healthy or obese. An ideal BMI is in the range 18.5 to 24.9 and more than 30 is defined as obesity.

Malnutrition is a major public health problem and a complex problem to be resolved. Both malnutrition and obesity pose a high risk of premature death and disability. With malnutrition down 10 percent according to the 2016 National Family Health Survey NFHS, on the one hand the incidence of obesity rises significantly on the other side of the spectrum, which an independent one Risk factor for various non-communicable diseases is one including high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and subsequent heart attacks and stroke.

The worrying situation is that Covid bans have led to an increase in various disorders in children, including obesity, longer screen time and their adverse consequences and behavioral changes. The prolonged screen time has led to eye strain, behavior changes, insomnia, and weight gain in children.

Because of lockdowns, children are staying at home and their only recreation is watching videos on cell phones and other devices. On the other hand, people generally have no knowledge of a balanced diet and daily needs for energy, carbohydrates, fat protein, macro and micronutrients. They eat what they can afford and it is a delight for their taste buds. People eat as much as they can afford without a single thought of excess or lack of calories.

Research has found that obese children locked up in Italy ate more junk food and watched more TV at the expense of physical activity.

“First things first, online courses have increased stress and sedentary lifestyles in children. On average, the lockdown has tripled screen time in children compared to pre-Covid times.

This obesity study, published in April, looked at 41 overweight children detained in Verona, Italy, in March and April.

Compared to the behavior recorded a year ago, the children ate one additional meal per day; slept an additional half hour a day; added nearly five hours a day in front of phone, computer, and television screens; and their consumption of red meat, sugary drinks and junk foods increased dramatically.

Physical activity, on the other hand, decreased by more than two hours per week and the amount of vegetables consumed remained unchanged.

“The tragic COVID-19 pandemic has side effects beyond direct viral infection,” says Myles Faith, PhD, UB expert on childhood obesity and co-author of the study. “Children and adolescents struggling with obesity find themselves in an unfortunate position of isolation that seems to create an unfavorable environment for maintaining healthy lifestyles.”

“Acknowledging these adverse side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown is critical to preventing hard-won weight control efforts in overweight adolescents from being devalued,” said Faith, Chair and Professor of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology of the UB Graduate School for Education.

The study was led by Steven Heymsfield, MD, professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University; and Angelo Pietrobelli, MD, professor at the University of Verona in Italy.

It is high time to educate and make sure people are consuming the right foods in the right amounts and starting regular exercise programs for their children.

The main causes of obesity are excessive consumption of fat, oils, animal fats, junk foods, and invisible fat found in grains, legumes, legumes, meat, and nuts. Environmental and genetic factors play a major role in most children with obesity. Only less than 1% of children with obesity have an underlying pathology for childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity is fraught with significant complications. Obesity is responsible for the development of insulin resistance due to fat deposits in skeletal muscles and liver. Insulin resistance predisposes a person to developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, polycystic ovarian syndrome, metabolic syndrome, and non-alcoholic fatty liver.

The cardiovascular effects of obesity in children are due to a higher prevalence of dyslipemia, hypertension, and resulting arteriosclerosis, particularly in the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle and tissues. Childhood obesity is one of the main risk factors for premature coronary arteriosclerosis and heart attacks at a young age.

Being overweight is a risk factor for many orthopedic diseases such as flat feet, genu valgum and osteoarthritis. The most debilitating complication of obesity is a dislocated femoral epiphysis, which leads to groin pain and abnormal gait.

Obesity is associated with common gastrointestinal complications, including gastroesophageal reflux disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver. Fatty liver is present in 40 percent of children with obesity. About 2 percent of children with obesity develop gallstones and can lead to life-threatening complications such as pancreatitis.

This higher incidence of obesity and its associated complications requires awareness programs at the mass level.

Malnutrition is the leading cause of death and disease worldwide. The developmental, economic, social and medical effects of malnutrition are severe and permanent.

A balanced diet is defined as a nutritionally adequate and adequate intake of foods that provide all macro and micronutrients in desirable amounts. Cheap food is usually not healthy food; We need government action to make healthy food more available and affordable. We need to see changes in the public sector so that government organizations ban all unhealthy food especially outside or inside schools.

Health education and investment in food research will be critical over the next five years. “One of the biggest hurdles is the availability of the right food, which is still dictated by the big producers. We need to find a way to work with the food industry to change the content of food products. In some countries the desire to eat the right food cannot be fulfilled due to the selection and the price in the supermarket. “

It is high time we did a thorough overhaul of food and technology, and people need to know how foods are made, how many calories they contain, and how much carbohydrates, fats and proteins are in certain foods. It is time to educate people about the benefits of polyunsaturated fat and the disadvantages of saturated fats.

The three main reasons for heart attacks in young people are obesity, smoking and drug addiction. It is time to tackle them all holistically in the shortest possible time so that many young lives can be saved.

Depending on the length of the lockdown, the increased excess weight may not be easily reversible and can contribute to obesity in adulthood if healthier behavior is not restored. “That’s because childhood obesity tends to track and predict adult weight status over time.”

In general, Kashmiri people have good affordability and accessibility to food. The irregular eating habits in Kashmir are a major cause of the rise in obesity among the general masses and children. The people of Kashmir are voracious carnivores and high consumption of butter, ghee, poultry and their products has increased the level of obesity and the resulting metabolic complications.

There is also a need to establish and evaluate telemedicine programs that encourage families to maintain healthy lifestyles during blackouts.

Dr. Suhail Naik

Consultant pediatrician

GB Pant Children’s Hospital

source https://dailyhealthynews.ca/covid-19-lockdowns-worsen-childhood-obesity/