ABSTRACT
Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic posed tremendous challenges for children, requiring them to adapt to changes in social environments. However, the long-term effects of the pandemic on various aspects of physical health at a national level remain unclear. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed data from nationwide health checkup records among children aged 7–15 years. The dataset comprised 3,544,146 records from 393,794 individuals who graduated from junior high school during fiscal years 2007 to 2022. Difference-indifferences (DID) analyses with multiple time periods were used to examine the impact of COVID-19 on physical health outcomes. Results: Compared with the pre-pandemic period, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with excess increases in obesity for boys and girls, persisting over the 3 years (DID estimate, +0.42%; 95%CI, 0.23 to 0.61). Also, it was associated with excess increases in underweight (DID estimate, +0.28%; 95%CI, 0.25 to 0.32) and poor visual acuity among boys in the 3 rd year (DID estimate, +1.80%; 95%CI, 1.30 to 2.30]). There were excess reductions in dental caries (DID estimate,-1.48%; 95%CI,-2.01 to-0.95]), glucosuria (DID estimate,-0.55; 95%CI,-0.88 to-0.23), and hematuria (DID estimate,-0.43%; 95%CI,-0.73 to-0.13]) during the 3 rd year of the pandemic. Conclusions: These findings underscore the multifaceted impact of the pandemic on various health indicators for school-aged children. This information could be valuable for public health policy and pediatric healthcare planning in the post-pandemic era.
Subject(s)
Hematuria , Obesity , COVID-19 , Glycosuria, RenalABSTRACT
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed people’s lives dramatically. Few data on the acute effects of the pandemic on children’s daily lives and well-being have been published to date. This study aimed to capture the effects on Japanese children during the peak of the outbreak and the national quarantine.Methods: We conducted a web-based, anonymous survey targeting Japanese children aged 7–17 years and parents/guardians of children aged 0–17 years. Eligible individuals were invited to the survey from April 30 to May 31, 2020. This self-report questionnaire examined daily life and behaviors, psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress), well-being, quality of life, and positive parenting or abusive behaviors during the quarantine.Findings: In our survey of 2,591 children and 6,116 parents/guardians, many aspects of children’s daily lives and well-being were affected by the pandemic. Nearly half of parents/guardians refrained from seeking medical care for the child’s symptoms. Sixty-two percent of children reported screen time exceeding 2 hours. Twenty percent of children reported abusive behaviors by family members, such as being yelled at, being threatened or insulted, and being slapped. Nine in ten parents/guardians of school-aged children reported their child had at least one acute stress symptom in the past month, such as irritable or aggressive behavior, sleep disorder, and poor concentration. Average mental health subscale scores from KINDL-R questionnaire on quality of life were lower than the national average for all grades.Interpretation: The COVID-19 pandemic had serious acute impacts on children’s daily lives, well-being, family relationships and health care utilisation including some impacts that are potentially long-lasting; thus, proactive interventions and services are needed, as well as longitudinal surveys.Funding Statement: This study was supported by the Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant in Japan and the Japan Science and Technology Agency JRAPID Grant.Declaration of Interests: All the authors declare no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: This study was approved by the institutional review board of the National Center for Child Health and Development on April 27, 2020 (approval number 2020- 21).