User:Jengmom2/Obesity in the United States

The Rise in Childhood and Adolescent Obesity Post Covid-19

The rate of childhood and adolescent obesity is on the rise. Childhood obesity has been an issue for over 20 years with projections to continue to increase. Both during and after the pandemic the level has continued to surge. Obesity is measured by referencing the body mass index guideline, which uses weight in relation with height. Obesity has many factors. These variables include a person's genetic make-up, unique metabolism, and habits like how much sleep we get, what we eat, and how much exercise we get. Additional influences include adverse childhood experiences, racial and socioeconomic elements like poverty, and environmental aspects including our income, residence, and local communities. Diet and physical activity are two of the most critical associations to childhood obesity. “The past two decades have seen the increase of mobile and gaming devices. Screen exposure influences risk of obesity in children and adolescents via increased exposure to food marketing, increased mindless eating while watching screens, displacement of time spent in more physical activities, reinforcement of sedentary behaviors, and reduced sleep time.”44, 45

In order to protect people from COVID-19, decision-makers have undertaken significant adjustments to people's life, such as closing schools and socially distancing  people, which at the time had mainly unanticipated effects on other facets of population health.

“With more than 80% of the world’s children being affected by school closures and the consequential disruption of lives, child health has been put at risk, and childhood obesity has risen disproportionately (4).” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the food environment has undergone significant alteration, and food insecurity levels have increased. This is related to hazards to one's physical and mental health. Since many children rely on school meals to guarantee proper nutrition, lockdowns have caused meal disruptions. More than 30 million children in the United States alone receive free or discounted school lunches, and school closings increased food insecurity from 32.6% to 36% between March and July 2020. Because some people do not have access to enough meals, there has been a rise in malnutrition in various forms, which has likely reduced levels of childhood obesity in some populations and boosted consumption of highly processed foods. Stress eating is also a real thing. The Covid-19 pandemic was a stressful time for families, even children and especially teens. These same families felt the worry of routines being disrupted, financial strains, all which increase stress hormones called cortisol. This hormone causes hunger and leads to emotional eating, causing weight gain. According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “severely obese kids' expected annual weight gain increased from 8.8 pounds before the pandemic to 14.6 pounds in August 2020. For moderately obese kids, the pre-pandemic expected weight gain of 6.5 pounds went up to 12 pounds. Even children who had a healthy weight prior to the pandemic saw their annual rate of weight gain increase by 2 pounds, from 3.4 pounds to 5.4 pounds.” Childhood obesity has long-term effects, including the risk of heart disease, cancer, mental health issues, and diabetes, as well as complications that lead to additional morbidity and early mortality.

To make changes to the trajectory of childhood and adolescent obesity, healthier alternatives must take place. To reduce obesity proper nutrition with a well balanced diet is necessary along with physical exercise to induce exciting ways to keep weight at a normal range. Childhood obesity must become a priority in the United States to lessen the longer term medical issues and complications in adults in the future.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/09/17/1038211236/weight-gain-obesity-children-teens-pandemic

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8662111/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221385872200047X