CONNECT

Children and COVID-19 Research Library

UNDER DEVELOPMENT UNICEF Innocenti's curated library of COVID-19 + Children research

RESULTS: 85 SORT BY:

1 2 3

Library Home | Reset filters

FILTER BY TOPIC:

ADVANCED SEARCH:

Select one or more filter options and click search below.

PUBLICATION DATE:

UNICEF Innocenti Publication

UNICEF Publication

Open Access

Reset filters

JOURNAL ACCESS FOR UNICEF STAFF CONTACT US

1 - 15 of 85

1 2 3

Research Report

Asia and the Pacific regional overview of food security and nutrition 2020: maternal and child diets at the heart of improving nutrition

Institution: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Food Programme, WHO - World Health Organization, *UNICEF
Published: January 2021

This is the third annual report jointly written by United Nations agencies on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (in particular SDG 2 – Zero Hunger) and the World Health Assembly 2030 targets for nutrition in the Asia and Pacific region. The first part of this report tracks progress on key SDG 2 indicators and World Health Assembly targets up to 2019. The second part of the report focuses on challenges and possible solutions to improve maternal and child diets in the Asia and Pacific region.

Working paper

COVID-19: Missing More Than a Classroom. The impact of school closures on children’s nutrition

AUTHOR(S)
Artur Borkowski; Javier Santiago Ortiz Correa; Donald A. P. Bundy; Carmen Burbano; Chika Hayashi; Edward Lloyd-Evans; Jutta Neitzel; Nicolas Reuge

Institution: UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti
Published: 2021 UNICEF Innocenti Publication

Cite this research | Topics: Education, Nutrition | Tags: COVID-19, COVID-19 response, education, education of girls, nutrition programmes, school attendance | Publisher: UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti

Journal article

Maintaining human milk bank services throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic: a global response

AUTHOR(S)
Natalie Shenker; Marta Staff; Amy Vickers (et al.)

Published: December 2020 Journal: Maternal & Child Nutrition

If maternal milk is unavailable, the World Health Organization recommends that the first alternative should be pasteurised donor human milk (DHM). Human milk banks (HMBs) screen and recruit milk donors, and DHM principally feeds very low birth weight babies, reducing the risk of complications and supporting maternal breastfeeding where used alongside optimal lactation support. The COVID‐19 pandemic has presented a range of challenges to HMBs worldwide. This study aimed to understand the impacts of the pandemic on HMB services and develop initial guidance regarding risk limitation.

Research Report

Measuring and mitigating child hunger in the UK

AUTHOR(S)
Aveek Bhattacharya; Jake Shepherd

Published: December 2020

Food insecurity, and particularly child hunger, has been a source of growing social and political concern for the best part of a decade. There are fears that COVID-19, and the economic shutdowns brought in its wake, will make it even worse. That has drawn substantial public attention to the issue – not least as a result of a high-profile campaign from Marcus Rashford and his Child Food Poverty Taskforce and subsequent changes in Government policy on support for children in England on free school meals through the school holidays. Campaigners have long argued that there is inadequate data on food insecurity and child hunger in the UK. In 2019, the Government incorporated a battery of questions on the topic into its Family Resources Survey. However, the 2019/20 results will not be published until March 2021, and it will be 2022 until we have data covering the period of the pandemic. In this report, we attempt to fill that breach, providing initial findings on the level of food insecurity in the UK, as well as the impact of the pandemic.

Cite this research | Language: English | Topics: Nutrition | Tags: child nutrition, food security, school attendance, COVID-19 response, lockdown | Countries: United Kingdom

Journal article

Feeding students during COVID-19—related school closures: a nationwide assessment of initial responses

AUTHOR(S)
Gabriella M. McLoughlin; Sheila Fleischhacker; Amelie A. Hecht (et al.)

Published: December 2020 Journal: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

This study aims to conduct a nationwide assessment of child nutrition administrative agencies’ responses to meal service provision during coronavirus disease 2019–related school closures. Systematic coding of government websites (February–May 2020) regarding school meal provision in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia, 5 US territories, and the US Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Education.

Journal article

COVID-19: a one-way ticket to a global childhood obesity crisis?

AUTHOR(S)
Sarah Cuschieri; Stephan Grech

Published: November 2020 Journal: Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders

Obesity is a global epidemic based on three major pillars of (i) genetic (ii) behavioural and (iii) environmental determinants. The latter two pillars have been challenged during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic across all population age groups including children. The closure of schools resulted in decreased organised physical activity, increase in sedentary lifestyle and screen time with the possibility of stress-induced indulgence in high calorie dense and sugary foods, resulting in higher susceptibility to weight gain. The uncertainty faced by many Northern Hemisphere governments as the new scholastic year looms closer whether to open schools again or not further enhances the stress on the children and their family.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 4 | Language: English | Topics: Health, Nutrition | Tags: child nutrition, school attendance, COVID-19 response, lockdown, obesity

Journal article

Tackling childhood stunting in the Eastern Mediterranean region in the context of COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Ayoub Al Jawaldeh; Radhouene Doggui; Elaine Borghi (et al.)

Published: November 2020 Journal: Children

Over 20 million children under 5 years old in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region have stunted growth, as a result of chronic malnutrition, with damaging long-term consequences for individuals and societies. This review extracted and analyzed data from the UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank malnutrition estimates to present an overall picture of childhood stunting in the region. The number of children under 5 in the region who are affected by stunting has dropped from 24.5 million (40%) in 1990 to 20.6 million (24.2%) in 2019. The reduction rate since the 2012 baseline is only about two fifths of that required and much more rapid progress will be needed to reach the internationally agreed targets by 2025 and 2030. Prevalence is highest in low-income countries and those with a lower Human Development Index. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undermine efforts to reduce stunting, through its impact on access and affordability of safe and nutritious foods and access to important health services.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 16 | Language: English | Topics: Health, Nutrition | Tags: child care services, child health, child nutrition, nutrition policy, COVID-19 response, multi-country

Policy brief

Breaking point: COVID-19 and the child protection crisis in Afghanistan

Institution: World Vision
Published: November 2020

The children of Afghanistan, especially those already suffering from poverty and inequity, are among the most vulnerable to the harsh socio-economic impact of COVID-19. Child mortality, malnutrition, forced marriages, sexual abuse, child labour and other forms of violence and exploitation and are all common challenges for the average child. With the addition of COVID-19 and its immediate and secondary impacts, children are now more anxious and worried than ever before and at greater risk of facing physical, sexual and emotional violence, especially as the economic impacts of the crisis set in with poverty rates and hunger in the country rising.

Cite this research | No. of pages: 9 | Language: English | Topics: Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition | Tags: child abuse and neglect, child care services, child education, economic crisis, household food security, violence against children, COVID-19 response | Countries: Afghanistan | Publisher: World Vision

Research brief

COVID-19 and food security in Ethiopia: do social protection programs protect?

AUTHOR(S)
Kibrom A. Abay; Guush Berhane; John Hoddinott (et al.)

Institution: The World Bank
Published: November 2020

This paper assesses the impact of Ethiopia's flagship social protection program, the Productive Safety Net Program on the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food and nutrition security of households, mothers, and children. The analysis uses pre-pandemic, in-person household survey data and a post-pandemic phone survey. Two-thirds of the respondents reported that their incomes had fallen after the pandemic began, and almost half reported that their ability to satisfy their food needs had worsened. Employing a household fixed effects difference-in-difference approach, the study finds that household food insecurity increased by 11.7 percentage points and the size of the food gap by 0.47 months in the aftermath of the onset of the pandemic.

Commentaries and Think Pieces

Omics study reveals abnormal alterations of breastmilk proteins and metabolites in puerperant women with COVID-19

AUTHOR(S)
Yin Zhao; You Shang; Yujie Ren (et al.)

Published: November 2020 Journal: Pediatric Research

The nutrition contents of breastmilk directly participate in neonatal immune response. The alternations of the components of breastmilk under the context of viral infection not only reflect the physiological changes in mothers but also affect neonatal immunity and metabolism via breastfeeding. Herein, this paper attempts to answer the important questions whether breastmilk production is affected by COVID-19 and whether breastfeeding is still a safe or recommended operation for COVID-19 puerperant women.

Policy brief

Averting a lost COVID generation: a six-point plan to respond, recover and reimagine a post-pandemic world for every child

Institution: *UNICEF
Published: November 2020 UNICEF Publication

After almost one year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the impact of the virus on the world’s children and young people is becoming clearer – and increasingly alarming. Children face a trifecta of threats: direct consequences of the disease itself, interruption in essential services and increasing poverty and inequality.

Despite being less affected than any other age group, emerging data suggest that children and young people’s health may be more directly impacted by COVID-19 than originally anticipated when the crisis began in late 2019. Disruptions to essential services such as education, health care, nutrition and child protection interventions are harming children. A severe global economic recession is impoverishing children and compounding deep pre-existing inequalities and exclusion.

On World Children’s Day, UNICEF is taking stock of the global impact of COVID-19 on children and young people, laying out what we know from the latest available data and research, highlighting what is still unclear as well as the options for action, and urging the world to take bold and unprecedented steps to reimagine a better future for children.

Research Report

Salud, aprendizaje, derechos y protección de los niños durante la pandemia del Covid-19: un estudio de investigación global

Institution: Save the Children
Published: November 2020

The study explores differences in the impact and needs of children by country/state/city, age, gender, disability, type of minority group, and poverty indicators. The research is exploratory in nature, using primary quantitative data collected through online surveys using snowball sampling methods and secondary data on government interventions and numbers of COVID-19 cases/deaths. This knowledge is invaluable to Save the Children, partners, stakeholders, and governments, in informing the development of information products, services, programs, and policies in the health and education sectors.

Research Report

Populations at Risk: Implications of COVID-19 for Hunger, Migration and Displacement

Institution: World Food Programme, IOM - International Organization for Migration
Published: November 2020

The joint WFP-IOM report highlights the close interconnection between hunger, conflict, migration and displacement, which has been further aggravated by COVID-19. The study explores the impact of the pandemic on the livelihoods, food security and protection of migrant workers households dependent on remittances and the forcibly displaced, including unaccompanied and separated children. Using the latest available data, the report highlights food security trends in some of the major migration and hunger hotspots across the world. The key findings have informed joint recommendations put forward by both agencies to mitigate the immediate negative effects on mobile and displaced populations, while preparing the pathway to recovery.

Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 64 | Language: English | Topics: Child Poverty, Child Protection, Migration, Nutrition | Tags: forced migration, household food security, migrant workers, unaccompanied children | Publisher: IOM - International Organization for Migration, World Food Programme

Working paper

Socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 in four African countries

AUTHOR(S)
Anna Josephson; Talip Kilic; Jeffrey D. Michler

Institution: The World Bank
Published: November 2020

This paper provides some of the first evidence on the socioeconomic impacts of and responses to the pandemic among households in Sub-Saharan Africa. Econometric methods are applied to longitudinal household survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda. Results show that 256 million individuals are estimated to live in households that have lost income due to the pandemic. Attempts to cope with this loss are exacerbated by the inability to access medicine and staple foods among 20 to 25 percent of the households in each country, and food insecurity is disproportionately borne by households that were already impoverished prior to the pandemic. Finally, student-teacher contact has dropped from a pre-COVID-19 rate of 96 percent to just 17 percent among households with school-age children. These findings can help inform decisions by governments and international organizations on measures to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal the need for continued monitoring.

Cite this research | Open access | No. of pages: 60 | Language: English | Topics: Child Poverty, Education, Nutrition, Social Protection, Well-being and Equity | Tags: household food security, household surveys, low income families, poverty, school-age population, social policy | Countries: Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda | Publisher: The World Bank

Journal article

Food insecurity measurement and prevalence estimates during the COVID-19 pandemic in a repeated cross-sectional survey in Mexico

AUTHOR(S)
Pablo Gaitán-Rossi; Mireya Vilar-Compte; Graciela Teruel (et al.)

Published: October 2020 Journal: Public Health Nutrition

The aim of this study was validate the telephone modality of the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA) included in three waves of a phone survey to estimate the monthly household food insecurity prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. The reliability and internal validity of the ELCSA scale has been examined in three repeated waves of cross-sectional surveys with Rasch models. The monthly prevalence of food insecurity in the general population and in households with and without children has been estimated and compared them with a national 2018 survey. Concurrent validity has also been tested by testing associations of food insecurity with socio-economic status and anxiety.

1 - 15 of 85

1 2 3

UNICEF Innocenti's Children and COVID-19 Library is a database collecting research from around the world on COVID-19 and its impacts on children and adolescents.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DATABASE

Subscribe to updates on new research about COVID-19 & children

Campaign

COVID-19 & Children: Rapid Research Response

UNICEF Innocenti is mobilizing a rapid research response in line with UNICEF’s global response to the COVID-19 crisis. The initiatives we’ve begun will provide the broad range of evidence needed to inform our work to scale up rapid assessment, develop urgent mitigating strategies in programming and advocacy, and preparation of interventions to respond to the medium and longer-term consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. The research projects cover a rapid review of evidence, education analysis, and social and economic policies.

Visit the page

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

CONNECT

MENU

Children and COVID-19 Research Library

RESULTS: 85 SORT BY:

1 2 3

FILTER BY TOPIC:

ADVANCED SEARCH:

PUBLICATION DATE:

Share:

Sign up to Innocenti news

CONNECT

MENU

Children and COVID-19 Research Library

RESULTS: 85 SORT BY: NEWEST OLDEST ALPHABETICAL A-Z ALPHABETICAL Z-A 1 2 3

FILTER BY TOPIC:

ADVANCED SEARCH:

PUBLICATION DATE:

Share:

RESULTS: 85 SORT BY:

1 2 3