Obesity-linked problems have hit 40% of kids since lockdown

Shobita.Dhar

The pandemic is weighing down urban children’s health. Anchored to their desks before screens that have turned into classrooms, four out of 10 children in Indian cities are dealing with obesity-linked problems since the Covid-19 outbreak. The year is ending on an unhealthy note for Prantik Panja, a 19-year-old college student in Bengaluru.

Already battling obesity, Panja piled on more than 10kg. “College is shut and classes are all online,” said Panja. He has been dealing with low immunity, high blood pressure and back pain — all related to obesity. “And, of course, people tease me about my weight,” he added.

Doctors that TOI spoke to said they have observed a marked increase in the number of children coming in with diseases related to obesity this year. “In India, the prevalence of childhood obesity is 8-10%. In urban areas, it is 15-20%. It’s normal for children between the ages of 3 and 8 to put on up to 2kg a year. This year, we have seen kids gain about double that,” said Dr Ganesh Jevlikar, consultant paediatric endocrinologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital in Delhi. “Most of my patie-nts have put on weight. Those who were healthy have become obese and those who were obese, are now getting signs of pre-diabetes,” said Dr Tushar Parikh, paediatrician, Motherhood Hospital, Pune.

Mid-year, endocrinologist Dr Anoop Misra and his colleagues did a cohort analysis on the impact of Covid-19 on diabetes and found 40% were vulnerable to weight gain. In the study, published in an Elsevier journal, 16% of the cohort gained between 2 and 5 kg. While the analysis was based on a study of adults, Misra, chairperson of Fortis C-Doc Hospital’s centre of excellence for diabetes, metabolic diseases and endocrinology, said, “The same would apply to children, along with the risk of metabolic syndrome.”