Disparities in weight changes during the COVID‐19 pandemic‐related lockdown among youths

Abstract

Objective

This study evaluates whether changes in weight among school‐aged youth in California due to the COVID‐19 lockdown vary by social constructs of race/ethnicity and associated social factors.

Methods

Including 160,472 youth ages 5‐17 years enrolled at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, mixed effects models stratified by age group were fitted to estimate changes in distance from the median body mass index (BMI)‐for‐age from 3/2020 to 1/2021 (lockdown) compared to the same period prepandemic.

Results

Excess pandemic weight gain was higher among Black and Hispanic youth 5‐17 years than among white and Asian youth; this difference was most pronounced in those ages 5‐11 years. In youth 5‐11 years, the distance from the median BMI‐for‐age increased by 1.72 kg/m² (95% CI 1.61, 1.84) in Hispanic and 1.70 kg/m² (95% CI 1.47, 1.94) in Black youth during the lockdown compared to 1.16 kg/m² (95% CI 1.02, 1.29) in non‐Hispanic white youth. The excess weight gain was also higher in youth with fewer neighborhood parks and those with state‐subsidized health insurance.

Conclusions

The COVID‐19 pandemic lockdown led to a gain of excess body weight, particularly for Black and Hispanic youth; this weight gain varied by social factors associated with race and ethnicity.

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