Nutritional status of children in northwest Mexico pre and post COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. Negative health consequences due to social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic were observed worldwide; overweight and obesity showed increasing trends. Objective. To analyze the changes in overweight, obesity and diet of schoolchildren in northwest Mexico before and after lockdown due to COVID-19. Materials and methods. Weight, height, and waist circumference of schoolchildren (n=479 pre-pandemic and n=820 post-pandemic) were collected in public schools located in medium to high marginalization neighborhoods. In the same periods dietary data was collected from a subsample of 203 and 179 schoolchildren, respectively. Results. The average age of schoolchildren in 2019 was 8,9 ±1,75 and 9,1 ± 1,54 in 2022. An increase in percentage of 6,2 was observed in the overweight plus obesity prevalence and a significant difference in the distribution of nutritional status (p=0,049) between the two periods. In addition, changes in central adiposity were observed, with an increase of 3 centimeters in waist circumference (p=0,001; 62,6 and 65,6 cm). The healthy eating index (HAI) classified the diet of schoolchildren as unhealthy during both periods. Conclusions. The increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as central adiposity is worrying given that they were already a health problem before the COVID 19 confinement. © 2023 Archivos Latinoamericanos Nutricion. All rights reserved.