Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Preventive and Translational Medicine for Geriatric Diseases, School of Public Health, Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Suzhou Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Suzhou, China; State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; Suzhou Institute of Advanced Study in Public Health, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China.
Am J Prev Med. 2022 Oct;63(4):647-655. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2022.04.015. Epub 2022 May 6.
The COVID-19 pandemic‒related BMI gain and obesity prevalence changes in children have not been clearly elucidated, especially in China. This study aims to assess the impact of pandemic-related BMI and obesity prevalence change in Chinese children aged 8-12 years.
On the basis of the Health Promotion Program for Children and Adolescents in Suzhou of China, a total of 72,175 children aged 8-12 years with complete data during 2017-2020 were included. Yearly BMI z-score changes and age- and sex-adjusted BMI changes before (2017-2019) and during (2019-2020) the pandemic were calculated. Multivariate mixed linear models were used to examine the possible difference in annual BMI change rate before and during the pandemic among subgroups.
The obesity prevalence slightly increased from 12.29% (2017) to 13.28% (2019) but substantially increased to 15.29% in 2020. The mean yearly change in BMI z-score before and during the pandemic were 0.039 (95% CI=0.037, 0.042) and 0.131 (95% CI=0.125, 0.138), respectively, yielding a difference of 0.092 (95% CI=0.087, 0.096). Similarly, changes and age- and sex-adjusted BMI increased by 0.191 (95% CI=0.179, 0.202) during the pandemic compared with those of previous years. Meanwhile, the increase in BMI changes in 2019-2020 compared with that before the pandemic was more obvious in boys than in girls and in underweight or normal-weight children than in their overweight and obese counterparts.
BMI gain increased among Chinese children aged 8-12 years during the pandemic. There is an urgent need to formulate effective public health policies to reduce the risk of pandemic-related childhood obesity.
COVID-19 大流行期间儿童 BMI 增长和肥胖患病率的变化尚不清楚，尤其是在中国。本研究旨在评估大流行期间中国 8-12 岁儿童 BMI 和肥胖患病率变化的影响。
基于中国苏州儿童健康促进计划，共纳入了 72175 名 8-12 岁儿童，这些儿童在 2017-2020 年期间数据完整。计算了大流行前后（2017-2019 年和 2019-2020 年）每年 BMI z 分数变化和年龄和性别调整后的 BMI 变化。使用多变量混合线性模型检查大流行前后各亚组中 BMI 年变化率的可能差异。
肥胖患病率从 2017 年的 12.29%（2017 年）略微上升至 2019 年的 13.28%，但在 2020 年大幅上升至 15.29%。大流行前后 BMI z 分数的平均年变化分别为 0.039（95%CI=0.037，0.042）和 0.131（95%CI=0.125，0.138），差异为 0.092（95%CI=0.087，0.096）。同样，与前几年相比，大流行期间 BMI 变化和年龄及性别调整后的 BMI 增加了 0.191（95%CI=0.179，0.202）。同时，与大流行前相比，2019-2020 年 BMI 变化的增加在男孩中比在女孩中更为明显，在体重不足或正常体重的儿童中比在超重和肥胖的儿童中更为明显。
大流行期间中国 8-12 岁儿童 BMI 增长。迫切需要制定有效的公共卫生政策，以降低大流行相关儿童肥胖的风险。
