Extra kilograms in children, especially among those who already had an overweight or obesity problem, due to the covid pandemic. Blame for a sedentary lifestyle, boredom, junk food and too many hours spent between tablets and TV. The confirmation, two days after World Obesity Day of March 4, comes from a recent study published in ‘Jama’, according to which in the last year the children with extra kilos have further gained an average of 3-5 kilos, more than triple the fair weight gain of their healthy peers, thereby worsening health conditions. A very similar picture for Italian children, according to the experts of the Italian Society of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetology (Siedp), further complicated by the impossibility on the part of clinics dedicated to childhood obesity to cope with this aggravation, because among the first to be closed with the lockdown.
“Childhood obesity is an unsolved problem in our country – says Mariacarolina Salerno, president of Siedp and director of the Endocrinological Pediatrics Unit of the Department of Translational Medical Sciences of the Federico II University of Naples – that the pandemic has only worsened , with the increase in the consumption of snacks, drinks and more time spent in front of PCs and tablets, also thanks to Dad. It is essential to get back to moving and follow a correct diet with rhythms and the right quantities, because – Salerno warns – overweight and obesity that persist over the years of development, can be associated with complications, including serious ones, such as type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension and depression. But the issue is complex and multifaceted and – Salerno points out – involves the child, the family and society and is It is important not to neglect those forms of obesity that may have an endocrinological disorder at the base.
“The family often tends to underestimate the problem, both because – underlines Maria Rosaria Licenziati, general secretary of Siedp and director of the Obesity and related endocrine pathologies center of the Santobono-Pausilipon in Naples – they are unaware (4 mothers out of ten do not realize the weight too much in her own child), and because she is often left alone to deal with the situation, which is rarely easy to solve “.
“There is also a purely social aspect to face, in fact often overweight or obese children find themselves in economic and cultural contexts that are already disadvantaged in themselves, precisely those contexts – continues Licenziati – that the pandemic has hit even harder. The problem will not end with the pandemic, but will leave its aftermath for a long time: in fact it is estimated that an obese child has a double to 6.5 times greater risk of becoming an obese adult than a normal weight child. – he concludes – it becomes even more important to promote adherence to the recommendations for proper nutrition and physical activity for children and adolescents, which Siedp has collected in a simple handbook “.