Pediatric obesity spiked during COVID-19 pandemic, fell off post-pandemic

Pediatric obesity spiked during COVID-19 pandemic, fell off post-pandemic | Image Credit: © Felix Pergande - © Felix Pergande - stock.adobe.com.

Results from a poster session abstract to be presented at the 2024 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting revealed pediatric obesity rates significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic before falling off post-pandemic, with Black patients having a higher increase and slower decrease period.

The poster titled "Obesity Trends in 2-17 Year Olds Before, During, and After the Pandemic," from presenting author Shreepada Tripathy, MD, MBA, MS-SA, FAAP, FHM, explored pediatric obesity rates in each time period.

Using data collected from the outpatient EMR for patients in Central and Southern Illinois from January 2018 to March 2023, investigators analyzed and compared 3 time periods: pre-pandemic (2018-2019), during pandemic (2020-2021), and post-pandemic (2022-2023). Three age groups were separated into sub-groups for analysis: 2-5 years old, 6-11 years old, and 12-17 years old, as well as race.

Since there were "several" patients with many visits, the last body mass index (BMI) for each patient for the associated calendar year was recorded. Investigators noted for "this project, level of significance is at the 0.01 level."

All told, there were 86,262 visits that met inclusion criteria, and patients across all time periods were similar in race, gender, and age group (P > 0.01). From the pre-pandemic period to the pandemic period, obesity rates increased from 23.4% to 26.0%. In the post-pandemic period, rates decreased to 25.2%. Rates were statistically significant (P < 0.001).

Though obesity rates among Black and White patients were consistent, obesity increased approximately 5% amid the pandemic in Black patients compared to 3% in White patients, resulting in statistical significance (P < 0.001).

Across all age groups, obesity rates increased during the pandemic and decreased in the post-pandemic period (P < 0.01). "This effect was more pronounced in the Black population, but only for the 6-11 and 12-17 year old age groups," the investigators wrote in the abstract (P < 0.001).

Reference:

Tripathy S. Obesity Trends in 2-17 Year Olds Before, During, and After the Pandemic. Poster abstract presented at: Pediatric Academic Societies. May 2-6, 2024. Toronto, Canada. https://2024.pas-meeting.org/fsPopup.asp?efp=TE1NSk5TTFcyMDcyOA&PosterID=647630&rnd=5.961686E-02&mode=posterInfo