When Two Pandemics Collide: Childhood Obesity in the time of COVID-19

Carolyn McCahill, BS; Olivia Serpa, BS; Giulia Tino, BS

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, Dietetic Internship Program, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ

Comparison of Device Use at Previous Time

Abstract Methods
Previous Weight Status
Background: With the emergence of COVID-19, children were engaging more in sedentary behaviors. Participants (N=6) Characteristic Normal Weight Overweight/Obese p-value
● Parents must have had children currently aged 6-12 years old.
Virtual education has added to the amount of screen time children have had. This study seeks to understand if
● Those who were not parents or who were parents with children not currently aged 6-12 years old were Screen Media device
children who were obese or overweight were more likely to engage in leisure screen time. It also seeks to not included in this study. Laptop
understand whether increases in screen media use during the COVID-19 pandemic can be explained solely by ● An online questionnaire was distributed to parents by contacting the department heads at Montclair State Desktop 0 2.4 .663
Tablet 0 0.2 .624
virtual schooling or if there were increases in leisure screen time as well. University, who then further distributed the survey to faculty, staff, and students. Smartphone 5 2.2 .494
● There were issues finding participants, therefore the survey was distributed to personal contacts. The Television 0 0.6 .741
Methods: This is a cohort study using convenience sampling. An online survey was distributed to faculty, survey was sent out to parents, department heads, and personal contacts through an online survey. Non-handheld gaming 5 4 .439
staff, and students at Montclair State University, and to personal contacts. Data was analyzed using ANOVA console 0 1.6 .753
Handheld gaming console
and chi-squared tests in SPSS software. Online Survey Measures E-reader
● Weight status 0 1 .741
Results: Demography of the participants was: frequency age of parent range 33-45 years; gender female 83% ○ BMI for age current and one year prior
and male 17%; race 67% white, 34% Black/African American or Other; education 100% finished college. No ● Physical activity
0 0.4 .624
statistically significant difference was found between weight status and leisure time (p=.469). No statistically ○ Questions modified from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-long form (IPAQ-long)
significant difference was found between online school and leisure time (p=.745). asking about time spent doing physical activity each week. Questions were asked for current time
Sleep Quality 2 0.2 .05
and one year prior.
Conclusion: During this past year, it is likely all children engaged in more leisure screen time, regardless of ● Screen time
weight status. This study takes place one year after initial lockdown measures and while schools were ○ Average weekly time spent online for school in the current time and one year prior Comparison of Device Use at Current Time
beginning to re-open. This may actually show habits during the initial stages of the pandemic versus ○ Questions modified from an existing survey asking about types of devices used, frequency of each
Characteristic Current Weight Status
schedules beginning to more closely resemble those prior to the pandemic. device use, and leisure screen time use.7
● Sleep Normal Weight Overweight/Obese p-value
○ Five questions from the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) were asked before and during the Screen Media device
pandemic to assess child sleep quality. Laptop
Desktop 2.5 4 .392
Introduction Analyses
Tablet 0.75 0 .472
Smartphone 2.25 2.5 .199
● Childhood obesity is a major public health issue with an increasing prevalence among young children. The ● Descriptive Analyses: demography of the participants and participants’ child Television 1 1 .472
prevalence of obesity among children in the timeframe of 2015-2016 was 20.6% for the ages 12-19, 18.4% ● Chi-squared/ANOVA: child weight status and physical activity, weight status and screen time, weight Non-handheld gaming 4.25 5 .439
console 0.75 2.5 .392
for the ages 6-11, and 13.9% for the ages 2-5.1 Contributing factors for childhood obesity include lifestyle status and sleep quality, BMI-for-age and physical activity Handheld gaming console
choices, such as inadequate physical activity compared to the amount of calories a child consumes. 2 E-reader
● Childhood obesity has the potential to affect almost every organ system and often causes serious .25 2.5 .269

complications such as hypertension, insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and psychosocial complications. 3
Risk factors to childhood obesity include diet, lack of exercise, family history, psychological factors,
Results 0.5 0 .439

socioeconomic factors, and in some cases certain medications.1 With the emergence of COVID-19 and self-
quarantine measures, weight gain is increasing due to increased engagement in sedentary behaviors. 1 Sleep Quality 0.5 0 .439
● Screen media is considered a valid documented contributor to obesity in children. 4 Children who consume a
greater amount of screen time also have a greater risk of being obese; because they were consuming more
caloric dense snacks and eating less fruits and vegetables.4 A 2014 study demonstrated the synergistic effect Conclusion
of screen time, physical activity, and sleep on childhood obesity by showing that the fewer ● Our findings were limited due to the time constraint and lack of responses. With the data we were able to
recommendations a child met regarding each factor, the increased likelihood the child would be overweight obtain, the results showed the children had an increase in BMI for age, an insignificant increase in screen
or obese.5 media exposure, and varied levels of physical activity. Future research needs to be done in order to
● Some recent studies have shown that these orders were contributing to the increase of obesity risk factors further understand the effect of Covid-19 on BMI for age, screen media exposure and physical activity in
because children were less physically active, consuming more unhealthy food (and more food in general), children ages 6-12.
dramatically increasing their screen time, as well as changing their sleeping habits. 6

References
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BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):1386. Published 2019 Oct 28. doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7745-6