Study: Childhood obesity in U.S. accelerated during pandemic

NEW YORK – A caller survey ties the COVID-19 pandemic to an “alarming” summation successful obesity successful U.S. children and teenagers.

Childhood obesity has been expanding for decades, but the caller enactment suggests an acceleration past twelvemonth — particularly successful those who already were obese erstwhile the pandemic started.

The results awesome a “profound summation successful value summation for kids” and are “substantial and alarming,” said 1 of the study's authors, Dr. Alyson Goodman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's besides a motion of a vicious cycle. The pandemic appears to beryllium worsening the nation's longstanding obesity epidemic, and obesity tin enactment radical astatine hazard for much terrible unwellness aft coronavirus infection.

The CDC connected Thursday released the study, which is the largest yet to look astatine obesity trends during the pandemic.

It found:

—An estimated 22% of children and teens were obese past August, up from 19% a twelvemonth earlier.

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—Before the pandemic, children who were a steadfast value were gaining an mean of 3.4 pounds a year. That roseate to 5.4 pounds during the pandemic.

—For kids who were moderately obese, expected value summation roseate from 6.5 pounds a twelvemonth earlier the pandemic to 12 pounds aft the pandemic began.

—For severely obese kids, expected yearly value summation went from 8.8 pounds to 14.6 pounds.

The complaint of obesity accrued astir dramatically successful kids ages 6 to 11, who are much babelike connected their parents and whitethorn person been much affected erstwhile schools suspended in-person classes, the researchers said.

The probe was based connected a reappraisal of the aesculapian records of much than 432,000 kids and teens, ages of 2 to 19, who were weighed and measured astatine slightest doubly earlier the pandemic and astatine slightest erstwhile aboriginal successful the pandemic.

Some limitations: It lone included children who got attraction earlier and during the pandemic, the researchers said. And it besides did not connection a look astatine however obesity trends whitethorn person differed betwixt radical and taste groups.

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Earlier this week, the CDC said the fig of states successful which astatine slightest 35% of residents are obese accrued past twelvemonth by four.

Delaware, Iowa, Ohio and Texas joined the list. In 2019, determination were 12 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Those results was based connected surveys wherever adults described their ain tallness and weight, and are not arsenic close arsenic aesculapian records.

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