WHO Child Obesity Surveillance Initiative
Financial Times (UK and international)
Covid-19 risks denting progress on childhood obesity, says WHO
Leke Oso Alabi
The World Health Organization said that the spread of Covid-19 was likely to have a negative impact on rates of childhood obesity, following restrictions on social gatherings and in-person learning.
The WHO cautioned on Tuesday that school closures and lockdowns could impact access to school meals and physical activity time for children.
“Covid-19 could potentially amplify one of the most worrying trends in the WHO European region – growing childhood obesity,” said Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe.
The global health body called for childhood obesity prevention strategies to remain a priority during the pandemic.
The WHO European childhood obesity surveillance initiative report, which was presented at this week’s European Congress on Obesity found that one in three children aged six to nine years was overweight or obese.
However, childhood obesity stabilised or declined in some of the 13 European countries where it was possible to examine trends over time.
Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Slovenia showed a decreasing trend for both overweight and obese children.
“It is heartening to see that when countries act it has a measurable effect,” said Dr Nino Berdzuli, director of the division of country health programmes at the WHO regional office for Europe.
The Times (UK and International)
BMI and risk of testing positive SARS-CoV-2 Late breaker 0409
Sky News – COVID-19: Overweight and obese more likely to test positive for the virus (yahoo.com)
PA newswire – High BMI linked to increase risk of testing positive for Covid-19
As mentioned in:
Yahoo News – High BMI linked to increase risk of testing positive for Covid-19 – study (yahoo.com)
Belfast Telegraph – High BMI linked to increase risk of testing positive for Covid-19 – study – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
Evening Standard – High BMI linked to increase risk of testing positive for Covid-19 – study | Evening Standard
The Scotsman – People with higher BMI ‘more likely to test positive for Covid’ | Edinburgh News (scotsman.com)
Times of Israel – Israeli study: High BMI linked to increase risk of testing positive for Covid-19 | Jewish News (timesofisrael.com)
France24 – COVID-19: Overweight and obesity more likely to test positive for virus | FR24 News English
Correio (Brazil) – Covid-19: obesity increases the risk of infection by up to 86%
https://www.correiobraziliense.com.br/ciencia-e-saude/2021/05/4923551-covid-19-obesidade-aumenta-o-risco-de-infeccao-em-ate-86.html
Ygeiamou (Greece )- Coronavirus – Diagnosis: The factor that increases by 22% the probability of a positive result
https://ygeiamou.gr/επιστημονικές-εξελίξεις/201264/koronoios-diagnosi-o-paragontas-pou-afxani-kata-22-tin-pithanotita-thetikou-apotelesmatos/
Abdominal obesity increases risk of worse chest X-ray Poster EP1-36
Telegraph (UK) – Beer bellies increase risk of serious Covid by up to 75 per cent (telegraph.co.uk)
And print article below:
Irish Independent – People with a beer belly ‘face 75pc higher risk of severe Covid illness’, says study – Independent.ie
Sky News – COVID-19: Overweight and obese more likely to test positive for the virus | World News | Sky News
Parental stress and risk of overweight in children Presentation AD04.03
MSN – Babies with stressed parents are more likely to be obese (msn.com)
Daily Mail Online – Babies with stressed parents are more likely to become fat children because their parents might overfeed them or pass on anxiety that triggers comfort eating, study claims