Trends in thinness, overweight and obesity among Chinese children aged 2-18 years before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2010-2020

Abstract

Introduction: Changes in nutritional status during the COVID-19 pandemic may be attributed to the obesity-causing environment that had existed before. This paper aimed to investigate trends in thinness, overweight, and obesity among Chinese children aged 2 to 18 from 2010 to 2020 and assess the potential influence of pandemic.

Methods: The Chinese Family Panel Studies that were conducted every two years between 2010 and 2020 included 48,642 children between the ages of 2 and 18. Height and mass were reported, and the body mass index (BMI) was calculated. The prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity was estimated using sex-, and age-specific BMI cut-offs adopted by the International Obesity Task Force and population-weighted procedures. Linear regressions were used to estimate trends.

Results: The prevalence of thinness decreased from 25.5% to 22.2% but increased among children aged 2 to 6. The prevalence of overweight and obesity decreased from 24.6% and 14.2% to 22.5% and 10.0%, respectively. However, these decreases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity were attributed mostly to children aged 2 to 6 and the prevalence increased slightly among children aged 13 to 18. The prevalence of obesity in 2020 among only boys aged 13 to 15 was greater than the estimated projections using data from 2010 to 2018.

Conclusions: From 2010 to 2020, the prevalence of all forms of malnutrition among Chinese children decreased, with age disparities. During the pandemic, overweight became more common among pubertal boys. Future interventions as well as policies ought to give high-risk groups priority.