Children and COVID-19 Research Library

Further investigation is needed to define the impact of long-term pandemic lockdown in children. This study aims to examine changes in body mass index z-score (zBMI), lifestyle, Health-Related Quality of Life and proportion of overweight or obesity (OW/OB) in 6- to 9-year-old children in Argentina. Observational study with baseline measurements prior to lockdown and follow-up after eight months of strict restrictive measures (November 2020, first visit, n = 144) and after ten months of partial reopening (September 2021, second visit, n = 108). Anthropometric changes from baseline to first visit in lockdown group (LG) were compared with a historical control group (HCG, n = 134). Follow-up visits included anthropometric measures, lifestyle questionnaire and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, children have presented with increased psychiatric symptoms. Little research has been done regarding early childhood mental health, particularly those from vulnerable socioeconomic contexts who are exposed to adversity. This study aimed to assess mental health and the impacts of the pandemic on this population. A survey and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire were administered to the caregivers of preschoolers who were enrolled in a food-assistance programme. The participants were 807 preschoolers from the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, which was ranked among the cities with the longest lockdown.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents have felt anxious, overwhelmed, and stressed out due to the changes in education and family and working routines. This work aimed to (a) describe three dimensions of perceived parenting (positive parenting, parenting stress, and parental school support) in the COVID-19 pandemic context, (b) describe possible changes perceived by mothers in their children’s behavior during the social isolation phase, (c) analyze if behavioral changes vary according to the dimension of perceived parenting, and (d) analyze whether the characteristics of perceived parenting dimensions vary with mother’s age, number of children and number of work hours. The purposive sample consisted of 646 mothers of school-aged children in Argentina. Questionnaires on sociodemographic and work-related data, and on children’s behavior were administered, as well as an instrument (Vargas Rubilar et al., 2021) that assessed the three parenting dimensions (positive parenting, parenting stress, and parent-school support). The sociodemographic and work-related variables of the study were described using descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency, frequencies, and percentages.

Changes in daily routine and social fabric resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to know the mood, emotions, and behaviors of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown. This was a prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study. Parents and/ or caregivers of children and adolescents aged 3-15 years in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires were asked about their perceptions of the mood, behaviors, and emotions of children and adolescents during the lockdown.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments have implemented preventive measures towards reducing infections. These conditions can affect the mental health of children and adolescents; however, this has not yet been fully explored. The aim of the study was to analyze changes in symptomatology and positive emotions in Argentine children and adolescents since the onset of isolation, based on parent/caregiver report. It analyzed differences based on gender, age, socioeconomic status (SS) and containment measure (and their interactions); their associations with symptomatology and positive affect of parents/caregivers; and the moderating effects of sociodemographic factors on these associations.

Children and teenagers are often considered as objects of care or as subjects who have the right to be cared for. However, in squatter houses in Buenos Aires, they often take on responsibilities that challenge the ways we understand childcare and participation. This article sets out to analyse the experiences of girls and young women. To do so, it carried out ethnographic work with girls aged 8–19 years within two occupied buildings in a Buenos Aires neighbourhood before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, studying its consequent measures of isolation and social distancing. Firstly, it describes how health measures applied to contain the pandemic reinforced certain stereotypes about children and their care. Secondly, it analyzes the participation of these children in production and reproduction activities inside and outside their homes. This analysis includes the ways in which they deployed strategies for their own care, based on their activism in a political organisation. The analysed material shows tensions between care and participation that occur in the daily practices of young women who inhabit these spaces, which are crossed by moral and legal duties as well as by material needs and violence.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have exacerbated existing socioeconomic inequalities in health. In Argentina, public hospitals serve the poorest uninsured segment of the population, while private hospitals serve patients with health insurance. This study aimed to assess whether socioeconomic inequalities in low birth weight (LBW) risk changed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This multicenter cross-sectional study included 15929 infants. A difference-in-difference (DID) analysis of socioeconomic inequalities between public and private hospitals in LBW risk in a pandemic cohort (March 20 to July 19, 2020) was compared with a prepandemic cohort (March 20 to July 19, 2019) by using medical records obtained from ten hospitals.

The 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) required strict confinement measures that differentially impacted the individual's daily life. Thus, this work aimed to study postpartum women's mental health in Argentina during mandatory social isolation. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to July 2020, which included five validated questionnaires to assess postpartum depression (Postpartum Depression Screening Scale‐Short Form), insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index), memory complaints (Memory Complaint Scale), metacognition (Brief Metamemory and Metaconcentration Scale), and breastfeeding self-efficacy (Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form).

UNICEF in Argentina carried out the Second Round of the Rapid Assessment as part of its Response Plan to COVID-19 in order to acquaint itself with the perceptions, habits, attitudes and changes caused by the pandemic among the population. The survey also investigates its economic and social effects on households with children and the implementation of the social protection system, as well as the implications of the pandemic and various response measures related to social and emotional wellbeing, focusing on early childhood and adolescence.

UNICEF in Argentina carried out the Second Round of the Rapid Assessment as part of its Response Plan to COVID-19 in order to acquaint itself with the perceptions, habits, attitudes and changes caused by the pandemic among the population. The survey also investigates its economic and social effects on households with children and the implementation of the social protection system, as well as the implications of the pandemic and various response measures related to social and emotional wellbeing, focusing on early childhood and adolescence.