The Impact of Nutritional and Lifestyle Changes on Body Weight, Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children and Adolescents during the Pandemic of COVID-19: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the measures taken by most countries to curb virus transmission, such as social distancing, distance learning, population, home confinement and disruption of all organized activities, has affected children and adolescents worldwide. The aim of this review was to assess the role of diet and lifestyle changes due to COVID-19 measures on body weight/composition and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and adolescents. An electronic search was conducted in PUBMED, COCHRANE, Google Scholar and SCOPUS databases up to 31 October 2021. 15 eligible studies were identified. According to the studies included in the analysis, COVID-19 measures seem to have had a negative impact on the diets and lifestyles of children and adolescents, with a consequent increase in body weight and central fat accumulation. On the other hand, the parental presence and control resulted in better glycaemic control in children with diabetes mellitus (DM) Type 1, but the effect of the pandemic in the glycaemic control of children with DM2 2 is controversial. Finally, diet and lifestyle changes had a differential impact on children’s hypertension prevalence. These findings point to the need for public policy measures to prevent obesity and its complications, to and improve diet and lifestyle during the continuing and yet unresolved COVID-19 epidemic.