Excessive weight gain among preschool children during the COVID-19 lockdown in China: a retrospective observational study
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Lili Huang
Abstract
Objectives
We aimed to analyse weight change and risk factors associated with excessive weight gain in preschool children during the COVID-19-related lockdown in western China.
Methods
A retrospective observational study of eight randomly selected kindergartens was conducted. Data was collected via online electronic questionnaires during the lockdown.
Results
During the COVID-19 lockdown period, the incidence of overweight and obesity among preschool children involved in the study was 7.6 and 14.7 %, respectively. In addition, the incidence of obesity among children aged 3–4 years was 26.3 %, which was higher than that of other age groups. Children with excessive weight gain (weight gain ≥1.0 kg) spent more time on TV and video viewing during lockdown than children with normal gain. Among children with excessive weight gain, weight before lockdown and fathers’ BMI were higher than those of children with normal weight gain. Heavier weight before lockdown (OR 1.044, p<0.05), higher father’s BMI (OR 1.022, p<0.05), fresh fruit consumption during lockdown (frequently, ≥5 times/week) (OR 5.946, p<0.05), and long touch-screen device time during lockdown (OR 1.259, p<0.05) were found to be risk factors significantly associated with excessive weight gain. Living space (80–100 m2, OR=0.499, p<0.05; 100–150 m2, OR=0.467, 95 % CI 0.26, 0.83) and good mental behavior during the lockdown (OR=0.056, p<0.05) were found to be significant protective factors against excessive weight gain.
Conclusions
There was a clear trend in excessive weight gain among preschool children during the COVID-19 lockdown, especially those who had already had heavier weight before the pandemic. The obesity-promoting environment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a further serious exacerbation of the childhood obesity pandemic. Therefore, child health care providers must pay close attention to this and implement effective preventive measures in a timely manner.
Funding source: Sichuan Science and Technology Program
Award Identifier / Grant number: 2020YFS0109, 2022YFS0236
Funding source: National Natural Science Youth Foundation of China
Award Identifier / Grant number: 81701540
Funding source: The Clinical Discipline Development Fund of West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University
Award Identifier / Grant number: KL119
Acknowledgments
The authors thank all the children and their parents for their participation in this study.
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Research funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Youth Foundation of China (81701540), the Technology Project of Sichuan Province of China (2020YFS0109) and the Clinical Discipline Development Fund of West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University (KL119). This study was also funded by the Sichuan Science and Technology Program, grant No. 2022YFS0236.
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Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.
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Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.
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Ethical approval: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University and followed the Declaration of Helsinki principles. The local Institutional Review Board deemed the study exempt from review.
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Supplementary Material
This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2023-0193).
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Systematic literature review of the epidemiology of glycogen storage disease type 1a
- Original Articles
- Excessive weight gain among preschool children during the COVID-19 lockdown in China: a retrospective observational study
- Longitudinal assessment of bone health index as a measure of bone health in short-statured children before and during treatment with recombinant growth hormone
- First results of the growth disorders related twinning programme Partners4Growth implemented at the tertiary university pediatric endocrinology clinics in Bulgaria
- Predictive factors of catch-up growth in term, small for gestational age infants: a two-year prospective observational study in Algeria
- Glucose levels are not the same for everyone: a real-world big data study evaluating fasting serum glucose levels by sex and age among children
- The status and childcare management of overweight and obesity among preschool children in Hangzhou
- The relationship between metabolic syndrome criteria and pentraxin-3 levels in children
- Case Reports
- Variant in the allosteric domain of CPS1 protein associated with effectiveness of N-carbamoyl glutamate therapy in neonatal onset CPS1 deficiency
- Rickets in proximal renal tubular acidosis: a case series of six distinct etiologies
- Successful treatment of hypercalcemia in a Chinese patient with a novel homozygous mutation in the CYP24A1 gene using zoledronic acid: a case report
- A novel mutation in the AMHR2 gene, resulting in persistent Müllerian duct syndrome presenting with bilateral cryptorchidism and obstructed inguinal hernia
- Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of anti-diuretic hormone due to hypothalamic hamartoma: use of tolvaptan
- Letter to the Editor
- CD163+ and CD14+ macrophages are increased in obese children
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Review
- Systematic literature review of the epidemiology of glycogen storage disease type 1a
- Original Articles
- Excessive weight gain among preschool children during the COVID-19 lockdown in China: a retrospective observational study
- Longitudinal assessment of bone health index as a measure of bone health in short-statured children before and during treatment with recombinant growth hormone
- First results of the growth disorders related twinning programme Partners4Growth implemented at the tertiary university pediatric endocrinology clinics in Bulgaria
- Predictive factors of catch-up growth in term, small for gestational age infants: a two-year prospective observational study in Algeria
- Glucose levels are not the same for everyone: a real-world big data study evaluating fasting serum glucose levels by sex and age among children
- The status and childcare management of overweight and obesity among preschool children in Hangzhou
- The relationship between metabolic syndrome criteria and pentraxin-3 levels in children
- Case Reports
- Variant in the allosteric domain of CPS1 protein associated with effectiveness of N-carbamoyl glutamate therapy in neonatal onset CPS1 deficiency
- Rickets in proximal renal tubular acidosis: a case series of six distinct etiologies
- Successful treatment of hypercalcemia in a Chinese patient with a novel homozygous mutation in the CYP24A1 gene using zoledronic acid: a case report
- A novel mutation in the AMHR2 gene, resulting in persistent Müllerian duct syndrome presenting with bilateral cryptorchidism and obstructed inguinal hernia
- Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of anti-diuretic hormone due to hypothalamic hamartoma: use of tolvaptan
- Letter to the Editor
- CD163+ and CD14+ macrophages are increased in obese children
