Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the eating habits, physical activity and sedentary behaviours of school-aged children in 13 countries within the WHO European Region: “COSI COVID” Study, 2020-2022

Introduction: In 2020, the world population was hit by a global pandemic caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-Cov2), with rapid human-to-human transmission. To limit the spread of the virus and minimize its impact, governments around the world implemented containment measures, leading to many changes in the lifestyle of millions of people. Although children and adolescents were, generally, at low risk of infection and less affected by mortality1, this unprecedented situation led to significant impacts in their daily routines/habits and had a profound effect on their health and well-being2-3. We aimed to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the daily routine and behaviours of school aged children, within the WHO/COSI European study. Methods: 13 COSI countries participated in the study: Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia and Uzbekistan. Countries could decide to implement the study together with the 6th round of COSI/WHO Europe in the 2021/2021 school year. A common methodological protocol was designed for this study. Information on children’s behaviors regarding eating habits and physical activity/inactivity before and during the COVID-19 confinement periods, was collected through the “Family COSI-COVID Form” with 12 questions. This form was completed on a voluntary basis by the parents/care givers of participating children. Results: This study included 42 731 children (6-10 years old). Preliminary results suggested that sweets and savory snacks increased during the pandemic in comparison to pre-pandemic period (15.7% and 13,2%, respectively). As for children’s sedentary behaviours, 36.7% of the children increased their time spent watching TV, playing video/computer games, or using social media for non-educational purposes on weekdays and 34.4% on weekends, during the pandemic period. In addition, the time spent learning at home also increased (35.5%). Regarding physical activity, the opposite was reported, showing a decrease in the time children spent being active outside school hours, both on weekdays (26.6%) and weekends (22.0%). Conclusion: These preliminary results are important to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on children’s lifestyles behaviours. These findings may be useful for future public health interventions as countries recover from the pandemic and take measures to address childhood obesity.

This study was supported by the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of NCDs and selected Member States from WHO/EURO.

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