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Review
. 2021 Oct 20;13(11):3689.
doi: 10.3390/nu13113689.

Telehealth: A Useful Tool for the Management of Nutrition and Exercise Programs in Pediatric Obesity in the COVID-19 Era

Valeria Calcaterra  1   2 , Elvira Verduci  2   3 , Matteo Vandoni  4 , Virginia Rossi  2 , Elisabetta Di Profio  2 , Vittoria Carnevale Pellino  4 , Valeria Tranfaglia  2 , Martina Chiara Pascuzzi  2 , Barbara Borsani  2 , Alessandra Bosetti  2 , Gianvincenzo Zuccotti  2   5
Affiliations
Review

Telehealth: A Useful Tool for the Management of Nutrition and Exercise Programs in Pediatric Obesity in the COVID-19 Era

Valeria Calcaterra et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the implementation of policies that mandate various restrictions on daily life, including social distancing, the closure of public services and schools, and movement limitations. Even though these restrictive measures decreased the COVID-19 spread, they may have detrimental effects on various lifestyle components such as physical inactivity, sedentary behavior, and dietary habits, influencing the maintenance of weight and contributing to obesity among children and adolescents. The coexistence of childhood obesity and COVID-19 and changes in the bioecological environment have put children and adolescents at increased risk for developing obesity and exacerbating the severity of this disorder. The use of telehealth technology is a modern approach useful for the delivery of health care services by health care professionals, where distance is a critical factor. Telehealth is effective in promoting increased self-monitoring and behavioral change, and provides the opportunity to perform online nutritional support and exercise training programs to promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce sedentary behaviors in children and adolescents. Telehealth, including tele-exercise and tele-nutrition, has the potential to address many of the key challenges in providing health services, including in patients with obesity during the COVID-19 outbreak. This narrative review aims to describe the role of telehealth as an opportunity in the management of pediatric obesity in the COVID-19 era, and to deliver nutrition and exercise programs for the maintenance of health.

Keywords: COVID-19; children; obesity; pediatrics; tele-exercise; tele-nutrition; telehealth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The role of telehealth during the COVID-19 era (created with BioRender.com, accessed on 16 October 2021).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of the COD 20 system: virtual platform for integration between hospital and healthcare services, reported by Zuccotti et al. [25] (created with BioRender.com, accessed on 16 October 2021).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proposal of virtual platform, using the COD20 model [25], as a novel approach to childhood obesity surveillance (created with BioRender.com, accessed on 16 October 2021).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Integrated care model for childhood obesity, combining telehealth and face-to face visits. Face-to face visit is proposed at the first evaluation and at 6- and 12-month follow-up; clinical evaluation (1), body weight control (2), body composition evaluation (3), and nutritional counseling (4) are included. At 1-, 3-, and 9-month follow-up. Tele-consultation for monitoring of weight, dietary intake, and physical activity is provided. During follow-up, a supervised exercise training program is remotely delivered three times per week in a 30–45 min session (created with BioRender.com, accessed on 16 October 2021).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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