Body Mass Index in Children Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Publication date: Jul 01, 2025

Significant changes in body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) have been observed in children during the COVID-19-pandemic; however, changes in different BMI categories after COVID-19 remain largely unknown. To examine changes in prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity in first- and sixth-grade children in Denmark during and after the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before COVID-19. This cross-sectional prevalence study was conducted from March 11, 2019, to January 31, 2024, using nationwide, population-based data from Danish health care registries. All children in first or sixth grade in Denmark during the COVID-19 time periods (before, during, and after) were eligible for inclusion. Children with outcome data (ie, anthropometric assessments) available in the Children’s Database were included in the analysis. Data were analyzed in March 2024. National COVID-19 lockdowns. The outcome of interest was changes in age- and sex-adjusted BMI (iso-BMI). Using log-binomial regression, crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) of iso-BMI categories (ie, underweight [

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Concepts Keywords
Covid Body Mass Index
Danish Child
Lockdowns COVID-19
Obesity Cross-Sectional Studies
Denmark
Female
Humans
Male
Overweight
Pandemics
Pediatric Obesity
Prevalence
SARS-CoV-2
Thinness

Semantics

Type Source Name
disease MESH COVID-19 Pandemic
disease MESH underweight
disease MESH overweight
disease MESH obesity
drug DRUGBANK Methylphenidate
drug DRUGBANK Diflunisal
disease MESH Pediatric Obesity

Original Article

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