BMI changes and its effects on a paediatric obese population in the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors

  • Inês Alexandra Azevedo Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2838-0610
  • Sara Alves Araújo Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6048-8712
  • Diana Pinto Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga
  • Joana Silva Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga
  • Lúcia Gomes Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3392-0335
  • Miguel Costa Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25753/BirthGrowthMJ.v31.i3.27726

Keywords:

adolescent, COVID-19, comorbidity, children, obesity, overweight

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic represented a major threat to global health. The special circumstances and changes to everyday life due to the worldwide measures had a strong impact, particularly in childhood and adolescent obesity.
We aimed to evaluate the impact on the treatment of obesity and on the expression of comorbidities during the first lockdown.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study of overweight and obese children/adolescents (6-18 years), followed at reference outpatient clinic, since 2018. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were evaluated.
Results: We studied 71 children/adolescents (52.1% female) with a median age of 10 years. 87.3 % were obese and a family history of obesity was positive in 51.4%.
After home confinement, a significant increase was observed regarding body mass index (p<0.001) and there was worsening of insulin levels (p<0.001), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (p=0.005), and aspartate aminotransferase (p<0.001), but not reaching pathologic levels. Therefore, there was no significant worsening of comorbidities after the lockdown.
Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a worsening in the magnitude of obesity. However, there was no significant repercussions on its comorbidity, which does not allow to exclude any long-term consequences.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Sama BK, Kaur P, Thind PS, Verma MK, Kaur M, Singh DD. Implications of COVID-19-induced nationwide lockdown on children’sbehaviorr in Punjab, India. Child Care Health. 2020; 47(1):128-135. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12816.

Castellini G, Cassioli E, Rossi E, Innocenti M, Gironi V, Sanfilippo G, et al. The impact of COVID-19 epidemic on eating disorders: a longitudinal observation of pre versus post psychopathological features in a sample of patients with eating disorders and a group of healthy controls. Int J Eat Disord. 2020; 53(11):1855-1862. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23368.

Di Renzo L, Gualtieri P, Pivari F, Soldati L, Attinà A, Cinelli G, et al. Eating habits and lifestyle changes during COVID-19 lockdown: an Italian survey. J Transl Med. 2020; 18(1):229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-020-02399-5.

World Health Organization (WHO), Obesity and overweight. Available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight.

Orsi CM, Hale DE, Lynch JL. Pediatric obesity epidemiology. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2011;18(1):14-22. doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/MED.0b013e3283423de1.

Chesi A, Grant SFA. The genetics of pediatric obesity. Trends Endocrinol Metabol 2015;26:711–21. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2015.08.008.

Rundle AG, Park Y, Herbstman JB, Kinsey EW, Wang YC. COVID-19-Related School Closings and Risk of Weight Gain Among Children. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2020;28(6):1008-1009. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22813.

World Health Organization, Tools and toolkits/Child growth standards/ Body mass index-for-age (BMI-for-age). WHO. [captured 2022 06 01]. Available in: https://www.who.int/toolkits/child-growth-standards/standards/body-mass-index-for-age-bmi-for-age.

Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Expert panel on integrated guidelines for cardiovascular health and risk reduction in children and adolescents: summary report. Pediatrics. 2011;128(2):13-56. doi: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2009-2107C.

García Cuartero B, García Lacalle C, Jiménez Lobo C, González Vergaz A, Calvo Rey C, Alcázar Villar MJ, et al. Cut off points to identify metabolic syndrome in healthy children. An Pediatr (Barc). 2007;66(5):481-90. doi: https://doi.org/10.1157/13102513.

Ten S, Maclaren N. Insulin resistance syndrome in children. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 ;89(6):2526-39. doi: https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2004-0276.

Magge SN, Silverstein J, Elder D, Nadeau K, Hannon TS. Evaluation and Treatment of Prediabetes in Youth. J Pediatr. 2020; 219:11-22. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.12.061.

VajroMajor P, Lenta S, Socha P, Dhawan A, McKiernan P, Baumann U, et al. Diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents: position paper of the ESPGHAN Hepatology committee. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2012;54(5):700–13. doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/MPG.0b013e318252a13f.

Kubota M. Hyperuricemia in Children and Adolescents: Present Knowledge and Future Directions. J Nutr Metab. 2019 May 2;2019:3480718. doi: https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3480718.

Braegger C, Campoy C, Colomb V, Decsi T, Domellof M, Fewtrell M, et al; ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. Vitamin D in the healthy European paediatric population. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2013; 56(6):692-701. doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/MPG.0b013e31828f3c05.

Valenzise M, D‘Amico F, Cucinotta U, Lugarà C, Zirilli G, Zema A, et al. The lockdown effects on a pediatric obese population in the COVID-19 era. Ital J Pediatr. 2021; 47(1):209. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-021-01142-0.

Medrano M, Cadenas-Sanchez C, Oses M, Arenaza L, Amasene M, Labayen I. Changes in lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 confinement in Spanish children: a longitudinal analysis from the MUGI project. Pediatr Obes. 2021; 16(4):12731. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12731.

Gwag SH, Oh YR, Ha JW, Kang E, Nam HK, Lee Y, et al. Weight changes of children in 1 year during COVID-19 pandemic. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2021; 35(3):297-302. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2021-0554.

Kang HM, Jeong DC, Suh BK, Ahn MB. The Impact of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic on Childhood Obesity and Vitamin D Status. J Korean Med Sci. 2021; 36(3):21. doi: https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e21.

Von Hippel PT, Workman J. From kindergarten through second grade, U.S. Children’s obesity prevalence grows only during summer vacations. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2016;24(11):2296-2300. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21613.

Downloads

Published

2022-10-19

How to Cite

1.
Azevedo IA, Araújo SA, Pinto D, Silva J, Gomes L, Costa M. BMI changes and its effects on a paediatric obese population in the COVID-19 pandemic. REVNEC [Internet]. 2022Oct.19 [cited 2024Oct.10];31(3):247-52. Available from: https://revistas.rcaap.pt/nascercrescer/article/view/27726

Issue

Vol. 31 No. 3 (2022): COVID-19: impact on Maternal and Child Health

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Inês Azevedo, Sara Alves Araújo, Diana Pinto, Joana Silva, Lúcia Gomes, Miguel Costa

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright and access

This journal offers immediate free access to its content, following the principle that providing free scientific knowledge to the public provides greater global democratization of knowledge.
The works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International license.
Nascer e Crescer – Birth and Growth Medical Journal do not charge any submission or processing fee to the articles submitted.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 > >>