Attenuated efficacy of pediatric obesity treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

This study examined whether the efficacy of a standard-of-care pediatric obesity treatment was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Analyses leveraged data from an ongoing pediatric obesity treatment trial involving 230 lower-income, urban children aged 6 to 12 years. Mixed-effects regression models compared children who participated in a 12-month weight-management intervention before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic on change from baseline in BMI z score (ΔzBMI) at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.

Results

The observed pattern of ΔzBMI was significantly different before versus during the pandemic (χ² = 22.73, p < 0.0001). Children treated before the pandemic maintained an average weight loss of -0.06 ΔzBMI at 12 months, whereas children treated du

SUBMITTER: Appelhans BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8661682 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature