Childhood obesity rose significantly during the pandemic, according to a new study that analyzed electronic health records for nearly 200,000 young people in the Kaiser Permanente health network in Southern California. The greatest change was among children ages 5 to 11, who gained an average of more than five pounds, adjusted for height, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network. For the average 5-year-old (about 40 pounds), that’s a 12.5 percent weight gain. Read more

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In the UK junk food adverts before 9 pm are set to be banned on television, along with a total ban online. The proposal was revealed in a briefing document that accompanied the Queen’s Speech, as she officially reopened the UK Parliament. Her Majesty announced that the Government would put the National Health Service at the forefront of the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and, as part of that, introduce measures to tackle obesity. Read more …

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Two new, large studies from England and Mexico provide new details on obesity as a risk factor for poor COVID-19–related outcomes, including death. The study out of England published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, examined data for nearly 7 million English patients 20 years and older with available body mass index (BMI) values registered at an eligible general practice from Jan 24 to Apr 30, 2020. The second study out of Mexico was published in Epidemiology & Infection and analyzed data from 15,529 COVID-19 inpatients and outpatients in Mexico’s 32 states from the National COVID-19 Epidemiological Surveillance Study between Feb 24 and Apr 26, 2020. Read more on the studies

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The study assessed 20,060 participants (61.5% women) from the SUN project (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) followed-up every two years. Food and drink consumption were evaluated through a validated 136-item food frequency questionnaire and grouped according to their degree of processing by the NOVA classification. The study found that a higher intake of ultra-processed food was independently associated with a higher risk for type 2 diabetes. Read more

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Obesity rates among children jumped substantially in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online in Pediatrics. Experts worry the excess weight will be a continuing problem for these children. The study looked at a large pediatric primary care network and found the number of patients with obesity increased from 13.7% to 15.4%. Read more

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The Spanish food industry is promoting unhealthy products for breakfast, according to Mireia Montaña Blasco from the Open University of Catalonia, who has undertaken research in response to rising obesity rates in Mediterranean countries. In total, the researcher analyzed 355 advertisements from 117 different products that appeared across Spanish media including the internet, television, radio, print and outdoor advertising.  Among the findings was that a vast majority of those targeted at children had an average sugar content of 36.2% compared to 10.25% for those targeted at adults. In Spain one in three children are overweight and the country has the highest proportion of childhood obesity in Europe. Read more

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