![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pandemic-pounds-2.webp\")
<\/a>The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that the rate of increase in kids’ BMI “approximately doubled” during the pandemic.
Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n
By Hannah Sparks
\nNew York Post<\/p>\n
In the wake of the pandemic, a generation of American kids will be faced with a higher risk of poor health in adulthood.<\/p>\n
More than a year of upheaval, anxiety and stress caused by the global coronavirus outbreak has put a pause on doctors\u2019 and patients\u2019 efforts to address another American killer: obesity. And that disregard for physical fitness had the\u00a0greatest impact on kids and teens<\/a>, evidently, as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0has revealed<\/a>\u00a0the rate of increase in kids\u2019 BMI, or body mass index, \u201capproximately doubled\u201d last year.<\/p>\n Children who started 2020 at a normal weight, or overweight, showed an increased rate of BMI across the board, according to the new study, published Friday, while the underweight cohort saw little to no rate of change.<\/p>\n The surge was particularly striking among\u00a0preschool- and school-aged children<\/a>, compared to adolescents of the same body type.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s definitely more obesity in the adolescent population,\u201d Dr. David Buchin, director of Bariatric Surgery at Northwell Health-Huntington Hospital, told The Post. Unchecked obesity in childhood guarantees a greater risk of developing comorbidities in adulthood,\u00a0such as type 2 diabetes<\/a>, hypertension, high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnea and heart disease, to name a few. (It\u2019s a\u00a0risk factor for COVID-19<\/a>, too.)<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of bariatric surgery, this is one of the busiest years we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d he said. While adults are his primary patients, he\u2019s seen kids as young as 10 under the knife for gastric surgery. His team performed a sleeve gastrectomy on a 13-year-old over the summer.<\/p>\n Dr. Jun Tashiro, a pediatric surgeon at Hassenfeld Children\u2019s Hospital at NYU Langone, also reported increased interest in his Adolescent Healthy Weight Program. It\u2019s part of the steady growth the field of bariatric surgery has seen over the past decade or so, though the pandemic has done patients no favors.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s one of the biggest issues that some of my patients have brought,\u201d Dr. Tashiro told The Post. \u201cThis pandemic has truly caused them to backslide on the weight loss goals \u2026 or that they\u2019ve become heavier than they\u2019ve ever been before.\u201d<\/p>\n The findings mean that kids who were already behind in terms of healthy weight now have even greater catch-up work to do. For those with moderate or severe obesity, \u201cit\u2019s very, very difficult to lose weight,\u201d Dr. Buchin emphasized. \u201cAs an adult, as a child, at any age.\u201d<\/p>\n While genetics certainly plays a role, health officials blame lockdown conditions under the pandemic for the spike, leaving young students without ample active playtime, or school-provided balanced nutrition for some underprivileged families. Moreover, the stresses of a lifestyle upheaval have left some frazzled parents without the time, energy or financial support to promote healthy habits in their kids.<\/p>\n