Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct 1;177(10):1102-1105.
doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.2823.

Socioeconomic Adversity and Weight Gain During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Samantha S Betts  1 , Shana Adise  2 , Panteha Hayati Rezvan  3 , Andrew T Marshall  1 , Eric Kan  4 , David L Johnson  1 , Elizabeth R Sowell  1
Affiliations

Socioeconomic Adversity and Weight Gain During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Samantha S Betts et al. JAMA Pediatr. .
No abstract available

Plain language summary

This cohort study uses a natural experimental design to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on weight gain as associated with socioeconomic disadvantage in a diverse population of US youth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Sowell reported receiving National Institutes of Health funding during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Body Mass Index (BMI) Over Time Since 1-Year Follow-Up in Prepandemic and Intrapandemic Female Youth Stratified by Family Income
Each panel depicts associations between BMI and time since 1-year follow-up in a different income-to-needs ratio (INR) category (poverty: <100%; near poverty: 100%-<200%; middle: 200%-<600%; upper: ≥600%). Plots show individual data points (circles) and best-fitted regression lines in prepandemic (orange) and intrapandemic (blue) groups in female youth, not controlling for other covariates. The shaded areas around the fitted lines represent the 95% CIs. We found evidence of significant associations between BMI and time × group (B = 0.049; false discovery rate [FDR]–corrected P < .001) as well as between BMI and time × group × INR (B = −0.007; FDR-corrected P = .004), suggesting that female youth from low-income families were especially vulnerable to weight gain during the COVID-19 lockdown. BMI is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lange SJ, Kompaniyets L, Freedman DS, et al. ; DNP3 . Longitudinal trends in body mass index before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among persons aged 2-19 years—US, 2018-2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;70(37):1278-1283. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7037a3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chang TH, Chen YC, Chen WY, et al. . Weight gain associated with COVID-19 lockdown in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients. 2021;13(10):3668. doi:10.3390/nu13103668 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marshall AT, Hackman DA, Baker FC, et al. . Resilience to COVID-19: socioeconomic disadvantage associated with positive caregiver-youth communication and youth preventative actions. Front Public Health. 2022;10:734308. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.734308 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wardle J, Waller J, Jarvis MJ. Sex differences in the association of socioeconomic status with obesity. Am J Public Health. 2002;92(8):1299-1304. doi:10.2105/AJPH.92.8.1299 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Federal Register . Annual update of the HHS poverty Guidelines. Accessed March 10, 2023. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/31/2017-02076/annual-u...

Publication types