Corona causes high rates of obesity among children

A new study shows that childhood obesity has risen significantly during the Corona pandemic.

According to the American newspaper, “The New York Times”, the researchers examined the health data of nearly 200,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17, recorded on the website of the Kaiser Permanente Health Foundation in Southern California, to track their weight gain during the epidemic.

The team confirmed that the children most affected by overweight were those aged 5 to 11, who gained an average of more than five pounds (2.5 kilograms), while the weight gain of those aged 12 to 17 was relatively less. (1 - 2 kilograms).

The researchers noted that the normal weight for 5-year-olds is usually around 40 pounds, which means they gained 12.5 percent in weight during the pandemic.

As for 11-year-olds, they usually weigh about 82 pounds, which means they gained 6 percent after the pandemic.

Before the epidemic, about 36 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 11 were overweight or obese, and this percentage rose to 45.7 percent after the outbreak of “Corona”, according to the study, in the highest increase that occurs among this age group over the world. over the past twenty years.

"What's worrying about this study is how big the change is in so short a period," said Barry Popkin, an obesity researcher at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health who was involved in the study.

Popkin explained that there are several factors that contributed to this, including closures and distance learning, where children sat for hours in front of computer screens without movement, in addition to the increased purchase of ready-to-eat fast food and foods rich in calories, saturated fats and added sugars, as the sale of these products increased. More than any other foods during an epidemic.

The new study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network.