Obesity in U.S. Children Increased at Unprecedented Rate During Pandemic

Editor’s note: Here’s an excerpt from an article in The BMJ. To read the piece in its entirety, click here.

The proportion of U.S. children who are overweight or obese, which has climbed steadily for years, surged to unprecedented levels during the pandemic, according to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Among a cohort of 432 302 people aged 2-19 years, the rate of body mass index (BMI) increase roughly doubled during the pandemic compared with the period preceding it. The greatest increases were seen in children aged 6-11 and in those already overweight before the pandemic.

The national weight gain will surprise few pediatricians, who have been warning since the pandemic began of the likely effects of reduced physical activity and increased screen time. But the rate of change is striking. The monthly rate of BMI increase nearly doubled, to 1.93 times its pre-pandemic rate.

The proportion of U.S. children who are obese was rising by 0.07% a month before the pandemic, but by 0.37% a month — five times faster — after the virus appeared.

Read the entire The BMJ article here.