Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Status of Overweight and Obesity among Children and Adolescents: a Retrospective Study in Chengdu, China

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents is steadily increasing and has become a public health concern. Lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic may have an impact on the status of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. This study aimed to analyze the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the status of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the children and adolescents who visited the West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University from January 1st, 2018 to June 30st, 2020. We included obese children who met the criteria and divided them into 5 groups with 6 months as the unit according to the time of their visit. The national lockdown time was used as a segmentation point to study the changes of obesity status in the same children before and after lockdown. Results: A total of 140,526 children and adolescents visited the outpatient department from January 1st, 2018 to June 30st, 2020, and 1,740 of them were diagnosed as overweight or obese at the time of their first visit. The study found that there was a significant difference in the obesity rate among the groups (P < 0.01). However, there was no difference between January to June, 2020 and the previous period. Except for the increased incidence of VD deficiency (P < 0.01), the severity of obesity, insulin resistance and dyslipidemia of obese children did not change before and after COVID-19 (P=0.303, 0.663, 0.106, respectively). A total of 65 obese children were followed up in the outpatient department before and after COVID-19 lockdown. There were no significant differences in BMI-SDS, HOMA-IR and 25(OH)VD among obese children before and after lockdown (p = 0.626, 0.386, 0.251, respectively). Conclusions: The available evidence cannot prove that the COVID-19 pandemic affects the status of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents who visited hospitals. It may be related to the multiple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children.