Facts: The study
The study is based on BVC examinations of 25,049 children, three to five years old. Participating regions were Dalarna, Jönköping County and Sörmland.
The study has been led by Anton Holmgren, a pediatrician at the children’s clinic in Halland who is connected to research in pediatrics at Sahlgrenska Academy, and Anna Fält, who does research in child health and parenting at Uppsala University.
Socioeconomics was measured according to the CNI method, care need index, which classifies expected need for care based on variables such as education level, proportion of unemployed or in action, proportion of single parents and proportion born outside the Western world.
The study is published in the European journal of public health.
Source: Sahlgrenska Academy
Previous studies in the area have often focused on adults or school-age children, or on children in countries with tighter restrictions during the pandemic.
“There are few studies done on preschool children in Sweden,” says Anton Holmgren, a pediatrician who does research in pediatrics at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and who is one of the authors of the study.
The study is based on data on roughly 25,000 three- to five-year-olds who have undergone regular health checks at childcare centres, BVC.
– We found, somewhat surprisingly, that even at the lowest ages there was an increase in both obesity, thus the name for obesity in healthcare, and overweight when compared to the previous years, says Anton Holmgren.
BMI increased
The result shows that three-year-olds’ body mass index, BMI, increased during the pandemic. Among girls, the percentage with obesity increased from 2.8 percent before the pandemic to 3.9 during the pandemic. The percentage of boys with obesity increased from 2.4 percent to 2.6.
Statistically significant increases in BMI were also seen among four-year-olds, and obesity increased among both boys and girls.
However, the group of five-year-olds did not show any BMI changes.
— Obesity is a disease and unfortunately children with obesity have a very high risk of continuing to have it as teenagers and adults. And we know that obesity in adults shortens life and causes many sequelae, says Anton Holmgren.
In addition, he adds, there is an image in society that it is not a disease.
— There is an image that it depends on behavior, that you just need to sharpen up. It becomes a social stigma and many children and young people who suffer from obesity become ill.
“Interesting and terrifying”
The earlier it is detected, the greater the chance of fixing the problem.
“If you can go in with movement and diet advice already at the BVC age, there is a greater chance of breaking the pattern than if you meet a 15-year-old who has been obese for several years,” says Anton Holmgren.
The clearest increase was seen in children in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. There, the percentage of overweight three- and four-year-olds increased from 9.5 to 12.4 percent, and the percentage with obesity from 2.4 to 4.4 percent.
— It is frightening that already at such young ages there are class differences linked to the risk of overweight and obesity.
Anton Holmgren believes that the study highlights the need for more targeted efforts to prevent obesity among children.
— We should try to work more specifically in child health care, especially in the socio-economically vulnerable areas, to reduce the risk. There, more research is needed on how to reach and bring about changes, he says.