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The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have been widespread and disproportionately affected vulnerable segments of the population, including children and their families. The modest progress made in reducing child poverty has been reversed in all parts of the world by COVID-19. Impact of COVID-19 on the welfare of households with children – a joint World Bank and UNICEF publication - presents findings from data from high frequency phone surveys collected in 35 countries. The analysis identifies the impact of the crisis on households without and with (few or many) children, both focusing on the initial impact in 2020 but also the subsequent evolution of this impact. The analysis focus on key areas such as income and job loss, food insecurity, social protection programs and access to education, shedding light on the importance of placing children in poverty and their families highly on the agenda in the COVID-19 response and recovery.
AUTHOR(S) Anne Whitesell; Hunter Fitch
Millions of school-aged children receive free or reduced-price lunches through the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National School Lunch Program; that service was disrupted when public schools closed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, this program received little attention on school districts' social media accounts. This research collected Twitter data from 70 Ohio public school districts to construct a measure of attention paid toward school nutrition programs from 2008 to 2021. It also collected district-level data to analyze the relationship between district characteristics and mentions of school nutrition programs.
AUTHOR(S) Dominika Skolmowska; Dominika Głąbska; Dominika Guzek (et al.)
AUTHOR(S) S. Scapaticci; C. R. Neri; G. L. Marseglia (et al.)
The adverse effects of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are not limited to the related infectious disease. In children and adolescents, serious risks due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are also related to its indirect effects. These include an unbalanced diet with an increased risk of weight excess or nutritional deficiencies, increased sedentary lifestyle, lack of schooling, social isolation, and impaired mental health. Pediatricians should be aware of the side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s diet, physical mental health and advise the families according to their nutritional needs and financial resources. Moreover, the lack of a targeted therapy able to offer protection against the deleterious effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection should require a greater effort by scientific societies to find a more effective prevention strategy. In this context, much interest should be given to nutritional support, able to contrast malnutrition and to stimulate the immune system.
AUTHOR(S) Heather Ohly; Martyn Clark; Sonja Read (et al.)
AUTHOR(S) Gerald Jarnig; Johannes Jaunig; Reinhold Kerbl (et al.)
The ramifications of COVID-19 restrictions might accelerate the already rising proportion of children with overweight or obesity. This study aimed to assess the association between COVID-19 restrictions and changes in body mass index (BMI) and the proportion of children with overweight or obesity. Cohort study with baseline measurements in September 2019 (prior to COVID-19 restrictions) and follow-up in June 2020, September 2020, and March 2021 at 12 primary schools in Austria. The height and weight of 738 children aged 7 to 10 years were measured and age- and sex-specific national and international standardized values were calculated. Changes over time were analysed by analysis of variance.
AUTHOR(S) Afsana Anwar; Probal Kumar Mondal; Uday Narayan Yadav (et al.)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities made a change in the classification of malnutrition and concomitant service delivery protocol among the Rohingya children, residing in world’s largest refugee camp, located in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. In this paper, we discussed the potential implications of this updated protocol on the malnutrition status among children residing in the Rohingya camps. This paper reviewed relevant literature and authors’ own experience to provide a perspective of the updated protocol for the classification of malnutrition among the children in the Rohingya camps and its implication from a broader perspective.
AUTHOR(S) J. J. Ashton; R. M. Beattie; S. Cader (et al.)
The Remote Malnutrition Application (R-MAPP) was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide support for health care professionals (HCPs) working in the community to complete remote nutritional assessments, and provide practical guidance for nutritional care. The aim of this study was to modify the R-MAPP into a version suitable for children, Pediatric Remote Malnutrition Application (Pedi-R-MAPP), and provide a structured approach to completing a nutrition focused assessment as part of a technology enabled care service (TECS) consultation. A ten-step process was completed: 1) permission to modify adult R-MAPP, 2) literature search to inform the Pedi-R-MAPP content, 3) Pedi-R-MAPP draft, 4) international survey of HCP practice using TECS, 5) nutrition experts invited to participate in a modified Delphi process, 6) first stakeholder meeting to agree purpose/draft of the tool, 7) round-one online survey, 8) statements with consensus removed from survey, 9) round-two online survey for statements with no consensus and 10) second stakeholder meeting with finalisation of the Pedi-R-MAPP nutrition awareness tool.
AUTHOR(S) Debra Shepherd; Nompumelelo Mohohlwane
AUTHOR(S) Dongling Yang; Chunyan Luo; Xiaogang Feng (et al.)
Since December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic. Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. What changes have taken place in the obesity and obesity-related lifestyle behaviours of adolescents during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? This study aims at analysing the changes in obesity and lifestyle behaviours of Chinese adolescents before and 1 year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing evidence for the global strategies to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent obesity.
AUTHOR(S) Oliver Ramos Álvarez; Víctor Arufe Giráldez; David Cantarero Prieto (et al.)
AUTHOR(S) Robin T. Higashi; Anubha Sood; Ana Belen Conrado (et al.)
The COVID-19 pandemic initially doubled the rates of food insecurity across the USA and tripled rates among households with children. Despite the association among food insecurity, chronic disease and psychological distress, narratives depicting the experiences of already food insecure populations are notably underrepresented in the literature. The current study assessed the impact of COVID-19 on clients of a food pantry who were also enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This is a qualitative study probing the effects of the pandemic on daily living, food needs, food buying and food insecurity. Interview transcripts were analysed using a combined deductive and inductive approach. Interviews were conducted via telephone between May and June of 2020 among equal numbers of English- and Spanish-speaking clients (n 40 total).
AUTHOR(S) Alysse J. Kowalski; Ann Pulling Kuhn; Hannah G. Lane (et al.)
The objective of this study was to examine risk and protective factors associated with pre- to early-pandemic changes in risk of household food insecurity (FI). Families from two statewide studies (2017-2020) in an observational cohort (May-August 2020) were re-enrolled. Caregivers reported on risk of household FI, demographics, pandemic-related hardships, and participation in safety net programs (e.g. CARES stimulus payment, school meals).
AUTHOR(S) Uriyoán Colón-Ramos; Rafael Monge-Rojas; Jael Goldsmith Weil (et al.)
School feeding programs (SFPs) can play a crucial role in the emergency food and nutrition response, but there is a dearth of information on how SFPs operate during emergencies. A rapid comparative assessment of 11 SFPs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from (1) systematic document search and (2) surveys with key informants (n = 23) about barriers/facilitators to modifications were systematically analyzed using a multiple case study approach.
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.
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The second digest discussed children and violence during the pandemic.
The first digest covers children and youth mental health under COVID-19.
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COVID-19 & Children: Rapid Research Response
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