16 Aug 2023 --- Investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) in the US have found that excess weight gain in adolescents during COVID-19 was linked to family income. Weight gain was greatest in low-income youth who were already “disproportionately affected” by obesity. According to the investigation, girls from lower-income families gained the most pandemic-related weight. In a research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics, the investigators explained that stress, lack of exercise and poor nutrition resulting from the disruption and isolation of the pandemic shutdown led many children and adolescents to gain excess weight.
