Yet another fallout from the pandemic – associated with a lack of physical activity for children – is weight gain. The situation has also been exacerbated by redundancies and reduced household income leading to changes in diet. This NYTimes article quotes Dr. Sandy Hassink, a pediatrician with the American Academy of Pediatrics at the Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight, who says that this is due to both “increased sedentary time and screen time to the increased snacking and dysregulated sleep which sometimes come with being at home”. Clearly this is a complex problem that needs addressing as obesity has a knock-on effect as it complicates the Covid infection, making it potentially more virulent. Blame is not a good starting point, but as the article goes on to discuss families should try and help gain “access to healthy food, to safe places for outdoor activity, to improved mental health services, to other supports that can reduce stress on families”. A good starting point is to try and address the mental health issues first then look at making healthy food available in the fridge, and encouraging some minimal exercise at home.
nytimes.com/2021/01/25/well/family/child-obesity-weight-pandemic.html