- Adults and children alike have gained weight since the pandemic began.
- A loss of routine has led to less structured eating, and physical distancing measures meant kids missed out on physical education, recess, and organized sports.
- This increase in weight gain is concerning because childhood obesity is linked to a number of health issues.
- Parents can help by adopting structured eating habits and considering how they talk about food and bodies themselves.
The American Psychological Association’s (APA) annual “Stress in America” report showed that more than 40 percent of adults gained unwanted weight during the pandemic.
Now, new research has found that 30 percent of parents are reporting their children have gained unwanted weight as well.
This news may not be particularly surprising. Coping with the stress and upheaval to daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been rough on all of us, regardless of age.
Dr. Kristin Saxena, a board certified pediatrician and nutrition expert in Omaha, Nebraska, said that one of the biggest contributors to weight gain for kids during the pandemic, particularly during school closures, was lack of structure with eating.
“During school, kids do not have constant access to food and snacks, whereas they do at home, particularly if they are not supervised by a parent,” she said.
“This can lead to a greater tendency to ‘graze’ on snack foods and possibly sugary drinks all day rather than eating structured, planned meals and snacks or drinking only water between meals,” Saxena said.
Saxena is also CEO of The Shikhar and Kristin Saxena Family Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting programs in the fields of childhood health, nutrition, education, and wellness.
She said that in addition to unstructured eating, most kids have also experienced a lack of exercise during the pandemic. Without physical education classes, recess, and organized sports, they simply had fewer opportunities to be active.
The result? Weight gain.
According to Christine Randazzo Kirschner, a registered dietitian in New York City and co-founder of Amenta Nutrition, it’s not all that different from the same reasons many adults gained weight during the pandemic.
But in addition to leading a more sedentary lifestyle and having less structured eating, she explained there may have been another reason more adults gained weight than kids.
“They were more likely to be eating alone at their desk opposed to eating alongside colleagues or clients,” she explained. “This lower-pressure environment may have influenced their food choices and quantities.”
Many adults also increased the amount of alcohol they consumed during the pandemic, which also may have led to additional weight gain.
Source: healthline