IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i9p5597-d808653.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Continued Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Obesity: A Commentary on the Return to a Healthy New “Normal”

Author

Listed:
  • Eileen Chaves

    (Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43205, USA)

  • Sheethal D. Reddy

    (Children’s Pediatric Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA)

  • Adelle Cadieux

    (Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, USA)

  • Jessica Tomasula

    (WakeMed Health & Hospitals, Raleigh, NC 27610, USA)

  • Kimberly Reynolds

    (Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA)

Abstract

Two years into this pandemic, mental health symptoms are more prevalent in children and adolescents, routine wellness visits have decreased, individuals and families are experiencing increased stress, and food and nutrition insecurity are on the rise. Pediatric overweight and obesity are yet another health condition that has been impacted by the pandemic. The current commentary aims to (a) summarize a variety of factors contributing to worsening obesity and healthy lifestyle choices in youth throughout the pandemic and to (b) provide recommendations for healthcare providers on navigating this challenge. Specific health behaviors, such as increased sedentary behavior, decreased physical activity, a change to families’ home-food environments, and an increase in sleep dysregulation have contributed to increased weight gain in children and adolescents. As uncertainty continues with the advent of various COVID-19 variants, it remains important to consider how the pandemic has impacted pediatric overweight and obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Eileen Chaves & Sheethal D. Reddy & Adelle Cadieux & Jessica Tomasula & Kimberly Reynolds, 2022. "The Continued Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Obesity: A Commentary on the Return to a Healthy New “Normal”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-8, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5597-:d:808653
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5597/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5597/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ares, Gastón & Bove, Isabel & Vidal, Leticia & Brunet, Gerónimo & Fuletti, Darío & Arroyo, Álvaro & Blanc, María Victoria, 2021. "The experience of social distancing for families with children and adolescents during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Uruguay: Difficulties and opportunities," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Zachary Parolin & Emma K. Lee, 2021. "Large socio-economic, geographic and demographic disparities exist in exposure to school closures," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 522-528, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Dirk Krueger & André Kurmann & Etienne Lalé & Alexander Ludwig & Irina Popova, 2023. "The Fiscal and Welfare Effects of Policy Responses to the Covid-19 School Closures," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 35-98, March.
    2. Harbatkin, Erica & Strunk, Katharine O. & McIlwain, Aliyah, 2023. "School turnaround in a pandemic: An examination of the outsized implications of COVID-19 on low-performing turnaround schools, districts, and their communities," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    3. Kuzmanic, Danilo & Valenzuela, Juan Pablo & Claro, Susana & Canales, Andrea & Cerda, Daniela & Undurraga, Eduardo A., 2023. "Socioeconomic disparities in the reopening of schools during the pandemic in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. A Parrott, Kristin & Huslage, Melody & Cronley, Courtney, 2022. "Educational equity: A scoping review of the state of literature exploring educational outcomes and correlates for children experiencing homelessness," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    5. Hashibul Hassan & Asad Islam & Abu Siddique & Liang Choon Wang, 2024. "Telementoring and Homeschooling During School Closures: a Randomised Experiment in Rural Bangladesh," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(662), pages 2418-2438.
    6. Monroy-Gómez-Franco, Luis & Vélez-Grajales, Roberto & López-Calva, Luis F., 2022. "The potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learnings," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Seth Freedman & Kelli Marquardt & Dario Salcedo & Kosali Simon & Coady Wing, 2023. "Societal Disruptions and Child Mental Health: Evidence from ADHD Diagnosis During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Working Paper Series WP 2023-04, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    8. Toossi, Saied, 2021. "COVID-19 Working Paper: Filling the Pandemic Meal Gap: Disruptions to Child Nutrition Programs and Expansion of Free Meal Sites in the Early Months of the Pandemic," Administrative Publications 327342, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. André Kurmann & Étienne Lalé, 2021. "School Closures and Effective In-Person Learning during COVID-19: When, Where, and for Whom," CIRANO Working Papers 2021s-42, CIRANO.
    10. Zachary Parolin & Emma K. Lee, 2022. "Economic Precarity among Single Parents in the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 702(1), pages 206-223, July.
    11. Noam Angrist & Peter Bergman & Moitshepi Matsheng, 2022. "Experimental evidence on learning using low-tech when school is out," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(7), pages 941-950, July.
    12. Jo Blanden & Matthias Doepke & Jan Stuhler, 2022. "Education inequality," CEP Discussion Papers dp1849, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Anelli, Massimo & Koenig, Felix, 2021. "Willingness to Pay for Workplace Safety," IZA Discussion Papers 14919, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Ling Yu & Pengjun Zhao & Junqing Tang & Liang Pang & Zhaoya Gong, 2023. "Social inequality of urban park use during the COVID-19 pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    15. Parolin, Zachary & Giupponi, Giulia & Lee, Emma & Collyer, Sophie, 2022. "Consumption Responses to an Unconditional Child Allowance in the United States," OSF Preprints k2mwy, Center for Open Science.
    16. Sébastien Goudeau & Camille Sanrey & Arnaud Stanczak & Antony Manstead & Céline Darnon, 2021. "Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(10), pages 1273-1281, October.
    17. Alvin Christian & Brian Jacob & John D. Singleton, 2022. "Assessing School District Decision-Making: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 30520, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Orit Shapiro & Riki Tesler & Sharon Barak & Lilach Ben-Meir & Ariela Giladi & Rachel Nissanholtz-Gannot & Gizell Green & Moti Zwilling & Avi Zigdon & Yossi Harel-Fisch, 2022. "A Biopsychosocial Approach to Examining Alcohol Consumption among Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-15, November.
    19. Dimitra Panagiotopoulou & Kalliroi Papadopoulou, 2021. "Impact of the COVID-19 Quarantine on Young Children’s Family-Based Daily Activities in Greece," Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(2), pages 1-56, November.
    20. Shi Jiao & Hui Jin & Zheng You & Jie Wang, 2022. "Motivation and Its Effect on Language Achievement: Sustainable Development of Chinese Middle School Students’ Second Language Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5597-:d:808653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.