ESPE2021 ePoster Category 2 Fat, metabolism and obesity (59 abstracts)
Restriction of physical activity is the main cause of childhood obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic – reflections from a study conducted in 3 clinical centers in southern Poland
Agnieszka Zachurzok 1 , Małgorzata Wójcik 2 , Aneta Gawlik 1 , Jerzy B. Starzyk 2 & Artur Mazur 3
1Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, School of Medicine in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland; 2Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology, Chair of Pediatrics, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland; 3Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Medical Faculty, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland
Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on behaviors and subsequent changes in BMI in children from southern Poland.
Methods: The study included 206 participants (104 females and 102 males) with a complete analysis of 177 (96 females and 81 males) with a mean age of 12.8 ± 2.6 years admitted to three pediatric endocrinology clinics (Rzeszów, Kraków, and Katowice) between June and September 2020. The study used an original questionnaire regarding eating habits, physical activity, screen time, and sleep before and during the lockdown. Anthropometric measurements were performed under clinical settings twice (before the pandemic in January-March 2020, and in June-September 2020).
Results: During the lockdown, BMI z-scores increased over the whole group, especially in obese children (0.073 ± 0.18). The amount of children who declared light and vigorous physical activity of more than 60 minutes per day declined from 41.2% and 18.6% to 31.1% and 6.2% (P = 0.03 and P < 0.001) respectively; sleep times over 8 hours increased (46.9% vs. 60.4% P = 0.007); screen times over 5 hours daily increased (14.7% to 46.9%, P < 0.001). Eating habits did not change significantly.
Conclusions: The main factor leading to childhood obesity during the pandemic is limitation of physical activity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, forward-thinking strategies must be developed to prevent childhood obesity.
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