School of Medicine, University of Split, 21000 Split, Croatia.
Department of Sports Management, Aspira University of Applied Sciences, 21000 Split, Croatia.
Nutrients. 2023 Dec 22;16(1):50. doi: 10.3390/nu16010050.
Within the last decade, childhood obesity has become a serious problem, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research paper aimed to examine whether body mass index (BMI) was higher during the pandemic (2020-2022) than in the pre-pandemic period (2012/2013-2019) using trends related to sex, urban-rural area, and physical activity (PA). This study included data from physical examinations of an entire population of primary school children from Split-Dalmatia County (Croatia) over a period of 10 years. There were 103,804 students from the first, fifth, and eighth grades who participated in the analysis. During the pandemic, the BMI of all the students increased, except for eighth-grade girls. Generations of eighth graders have had significantly different BMIs throughout the past decade. We found that first graders were overweight and obese in urban areas, while in rural areas, this problem was experienced by upper grades. Girls were more overweight and obese in the first and eighth grades, but boys experienced this more in the fifth grade. Reduced PA influenced an increase in BMI in both sexes, especially in girls. During the pandemic, this situation became worse. This study could be useful to experts for the creation of new policies for Split-Dalmatia County and surrounding regions that are similar economically and culturally.
在过去的十年中，儿童肥胖已成为一个严重的问题，尤其是在 COVID-19 大流行期间。本研究旨在探讨疫情期间（2020-2022 年）与疫情前（2012/2013-2019 年）相比，性别、城乡地区和体力活动（PA）相关趋势下，儿童的体重指数（BMI）是否更高。该研究包括来自克罗地亚斯普利特-达尔马提亚县（Split-Dalmatia County）整个小学人群体检的数据，该研究为期 10 年，共涉及 103804 名一、五、八年级学生。在疫情期间，除了八年级女生外，所有学生的 BMI 都有所增加。过去十年中，各年级的八年级学生的 BMI 一直存在显著差异。我们发现，城市地区的一年级学生超重和肥胖，而农村地区则是高年级学生。一、八年级的女生超重和肥胖更为严重，但五年级的男生更为严重。PA 减少会影响男女 BMI 的增加，尤其是女生。在疫情期间，这种情况变得更糟。本研究对于专家制定斯普利特-达尔马提亚县和周边地区类似的新政策可能会有所帮助，这些地区在经济和文化上都很相似。
