The AP (9/16, Stobbe) reports, “A new study ties the COVID-19 pandemic to an ‘alarming’ increase in obesity in U.S. children and teenagers.” The study also indicates a “vicious cycle,” as “the pandemic appears to be worsening the nation’s longstanding obesity epidemic, and obesity can put people at risk for more severe illness after coronavirus infection.”
The Hill (9/16, Coleman) reports, “The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) released Thursday determined that the monthly rate of BMI increase among 2- to 19-year-olds accelerated during the pandemic to reach 0.1 kg/m² per month,” while before the pandemic, “the rate of increase was 0.052 kg/m² per month.”
MedPage Today (9/16, Walker) reports the authors “divided the children and teens into BMI categories, and found significant increases in the rate of BMI among all categories except underweight.” Additionally, “among those with overweight, moderate obesity, and severe obesity, the rates of BMI increase more than doubled, the team said, and even those with healthy weight had a rate of BMI change that almost doubled (ratio 1.78).” They found that “these changes were most pronounced among elementary school children ages 6 to 11, whose rate of BMI change more than doubled versus the pre-pandemic rate (ratio 2.50).”
Related Links:
— “Study: Childhood obesity in U.S. accelerated during pandemic “Mike Stobbe, AP, September 16, 2021