Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, social isolation, semi-lockdown, and “stay at home” orders were imposed upon the population in the interest of infection control. This dramatically changes the daily routine of children and adolescents, with a large impact on lifestyle and wellbeing. Children with obesity have been shown to be at a higher risk of negative lifestyle changes and weight gain during lockdown. Obesity and COVID-19 negatively affect children and adolescents’ wellbeing, with adverse effects on psychophysical health, due in large part to food choices, snacking between meals, and comfort eating. Moreover, a markable decrease in physical activity levels and an increase in sedentary behavior is associated with weight gain, especially in children with excessive weight. In addition, obesity is the most common comorbidity in severe cases of COVID-19, suggesting that immune dysregulation, metabolic unbalance, inadequate nutritional status, and dysbiosis are key factors in the complex mechanistic and clinical interplay between obesity and COVID-19. This narrative review aims to describe the most up-to-date evidence on the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in children and adolescents, focusing on the role of excessive weight and weight gain in pediatrics. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that nutrition education interventions, access to healthy food, as well as family nutrition counselling should be covered by pediatric services to prevent obesity, which worsens disease outcomes related to COVID-19 infection.
Highlights
At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus caused a cluster of pneumonia in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province, in China
We proposed a narrative review [9], in an attempt to summarize the literature to answer our research question on the influence of the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 infection on lifestyle in children and adolescents, focusing on eating behavior and food choices
Obesity is the most common comorbidity in severe cases of COVID-19 occurring in children and adolescents [7,24,77,91] and the third most prevalent risk factor among children admitted to ICUs [8]
Summary
At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus caused a cluster of pneumonia in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei province, in China. Semi-lockdown, and “stay at home” orders were imposed upon the population This was in an effort to reduce public gatherings that would heighten viral exposure and contagion. Many public spaces, such as gyms, swimming pools, theatres, and cinemas, were shut down, resulting in limitation of participation in sports, and physical activity and social interaction and enjoyment [2] The consequences of those abrupt changes affected the physical and mental health of children and adolescents all over the world, disrupting daily life routine and negatively impacting food choices and eating habits, despite different results reported in the literature [3,4,5,6]. This narrative review aims to describe the most up-to-date evidence on the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in children and adolescents, focusing on the role of excessive weight and weight gain in pediatrics and its adverse effect on psychophysical health, due in large part to unhealthy food choices or access to healthy food and eating behavior including snacking between meals and comfort eating
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