The Covid-19 pandemic has indirectly led to a significant rise in childhood obesity, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Wednesday.
Health measures encouraged people to stay home for the majority of pandemic period. For approximately one third of children, this resulted in increased screen time, while 28% became less active.
The WHO based its conclusions on data from over 50,000 children across 17 European countries. In Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Romania, parents completed questionnaires about their children's lifestyles – aged between seven to nine – before and during the pandemic. This allows for a retrospective examination of lifestyle changes that occurred throughout the health crisis.
The study confirmed suspicions that remaining at home does not improve children's physical condition. The percentage of children perceived as being a healthy weight by their parents fell from 82% to 73%. The percentage of children deemed overweight by their parents doubled, rising from 8% to 16%.
Previous studies had already highlighted that many children and teenagers felt worse about themselves during the pandemic. This study confirms this: one in five children felt sad more often and one in four reported feeling lonely more frequently.
