What you should know
- Southern California children gained obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly between the ages of 5 and 11, according to a study.
- The result was an increase of nearly 9% in the youngest children who fall into the overweight and obesity categories.
- The researchers used the health records of 191,509 members of Kaiser Permanente in Southern California from March 1, 2019 to January 31, 2021.
A study by Kaiser Permanente of nearly 200,000 Southern California children found that children gained obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly between the ages of 5 and 11, according to results released Monday.
“When we compared child weight gain from 2019 to 2020, we found that teenagers of all ages gained more weight during the pandemic,” senior author Corinna Koebnick of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation said in a statement . “And this weight gain was disproportionate to the youngest children. On average, 5-11 year olds gained 5 extra pounds while 16-17 year olds gained 2 extra pounds. The result was a nearly 9% increase in the youngest children who fall into the overweight and obesity categories. “
“When children go back to school, it will be important to focus on health and physical activity to help children not carry unwanted extra weight into adulthood.”
To determine weight gain, the researchers used electronic health records from 191,509 members of Kaiser Permanente in Southern California from March 1, 2019 to January 31, 2021. The study found an increase in body weight and the prevalence of obesity in children aged 5 to 11 years in the wake of the old pandemic.
Costco says it will restrict sales of toilet paper and other household products as supply chain restrictions affect the company.
The study results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Comments are closed.