Fighting overweight and obesity in children after the COVID-19 pandemic

Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem. At the World level, more than 42 million children under 5 are overweight or obese, and this number is expected to increase to around 70 million by 2025 according to current trends. Overweight or obese children often have physical and psychological health problems. In the short term, these effects could be associated with low self-esteem and negative body image, both of which can lead to a loss of self-confidence and an increased risk of being bullied in school. Overweight or obese children are also at increased risk of developing various noncommunicable diseases and obesity in adulthood.

This is why it is urgent to propose comprehensive policies. This was warned by Himmat Singh Badesha, Gurvir Bagri, Amrit Nagra, Kirandip Nijran, Gurjivan Singh, Olalekan Lee Aiyegbusi, researchers from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, who published in the prestigious scientific journal The Lancet a to study with a series of recommendations to reduce the impact of childhood obesity in a post-COVID world.

And they pointed out that although they are essential, There are signs that interventions to curb the COVID-19 pandemic are worsening the crisis of overweight and obesity in children around the world. Restricted use of public spaces and play areas means children have fewer opportunities to participate in physical activity than before the pandemic.

School closures made the situation worse. Studies have shown that children are more likely to gain weight during vacation periods when they are not at school than during school hours. This weight gain could be due to the loss of the positive influence that schools tend to have on major risk factors, such as defined meal times, physical activity, and sleep schedules. Compared to before the pandemic, children are now more dependent on family members to make dietary decisions, which may not always have a positive effect on these risk factors and could lead to unhealthy weight gain. The excess weight children gained during this pandemic could be difficult to reverse and could contribute to overweight and obesity in adulthood.

According to British scientists, government policies often do not appreciate or adequately address these complex issues. The UK government recently announced plans to restart the National Child Measurement Program (NCMP) in September 2021 and increase the frequency of weighing from twice overall to once a year during primary education in order to combat against the obesity crisis. While this strategy will provide comprehensive trend data, there is concern that weighing children in school once a year could lead to poor focus on children’s physical appearance.

This emphasis could intensify existing bullying and stigma and worsen the mental health of overweight and obese children.. As part of the UK government’s plan, parents will be provided with information about children’s weight classes in the hope that they will be motivated to make positive changes in diet or activity level, or both, to their children. In reality, providing such information without adequate support will be insufficient to motivate parents and may even be counterproductive. Efforts to remedy this situation must go beyond its quantification and characterization.

As a starting point, it is essential that the complex nature of overweight and obesity in children be recognized. Problems such as parental deprivation and obesity have been shown to be strongly associated with childhood obesity in the UK. Combined NCMP data from 2016 and 2017 show that more than a quarter of obese children in England live in households in which at least one parent is obese, and that around half of parents who have obese children and over 85% of overweight parents think their child is at a healthy weight.

“The government approach needs to shift from an approach focused on personal responsibility and individual action to a more empathetic one, which recognizes the influence of environmental, cultural and socio-economic factors that contribute to overweight and obesity among people. children, especially since children have little or no control. on these factors. A whole-of-society approach has been advocated, whereby individuals (i.e. parents), businesses, schools, local authorities, health organizations and the national government work together and are taking swift and decisive action to deal with the situation, ”the authors of the document warned. This strategy would require sustained commitment from all stakeholders and considerable resources to be successful.

As well Clear, achievable and evidence-based government policies and clinical guidelines are essential to ensure their effectiveness. However, a 2017 Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials of treatments for overweight and obesity in children disturbingly noted that the overall quality of the evidence was low or very low. The researchers pointed out that the review also found substantial heterogeneity between these trials and marked variation in the length of follow-up between studies.

Given the challenges associated with sustaining weight loss, future studies should have longer follow-up periods than previous trials to determine which interventions provide the best long-term results. Being overweight or obese affects children both psychologically and physically. Therefore, future interventions should consider the use of patient-reported outcome measures to assess their effects on dimensions such as quality of life, anxiety, and self-confidence, in addition to clinical parameters such as Z-score of body mass index.. Researchers also need to be aware of and respond to changes in the research landscape of obesogenic behaviors and environments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers need to be sensitive to these changes when examining the evidence generated before the pandemic.

A report released in 2020 estimated that the National Health Service in England would save around £ 37 billion and UK society as a whole £ 202 billion, through improved productivity, reduced hospital admissions and increased labor market participation if the government meets its goal of halving the number of children. obesity by 2030 in the current cohort.

“Tackling overweight and obesity in children after the pandemic will not be easy and could take decades to completely reverse current trends.. Sustained and genuinely engaged collaborative action is urgently needed to tackle overweight and obesity in children and the complex underlying issues, ”they warned.

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