Obesity among Polish children has increased further amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a study conducted on behalf of the health ministry shows.
The research, which examined over 2,000 Polish eight-year-olds in more than a hundred schools, found that the proportion who were obese reached 16.8%. That was up from 13.4% in 2018 and 12.2% in 2016.
Meanwhile, over one third of children (35.3%) were overweight, up from 32.2% in 2018 and 30.7% in 2016.
Obesity was particularly prevalent among boys, where the figure stood at almost 20%. While among girls it was much lower (at 13.9%), there was a sharper rise during the pandemic. Previously, between 2016 and 2018 the proportion of girls who were obese had actually fallen from 9.8% to 9.1%.
Proporiton of eight-year-olds overweight and obsese (left) and only obsese (right). Charts show proportions among all children (ogółem), boys (chłopcy) and girls (dwieczynki). Source: Ministerstwo Zdrowia/Twitter
The study also found 44% of parents saying that their children now spend more time in front of screens on weekdays than before the pandemic and 37% more on weekends. Almost a quarter (23%) said their children consumed sweets more often than before.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the health behaviour and mental wellbeing of children,” says Tomasz Maciejewski, director of the Institute of Mother and Child, which carried out the study, and a medical doctor. “Implementing corrective and preventive strategies are priorities.”
“Due to the constant increase in the percentage of overweight and obese children, we forecast an increase in negative health consequences,” added Anna Fijałkowska, the institute’s deputy director and a professor of medicine, who led work on the report.
The health minister, Adam Niedzielski, who presented the findings on Wednesday, warned that the trends discovered will “have very serious consequences, because obesity and being overweight are the main risk factors when it comes to cardiological issues but also other complications linked to diabetes or other ailments”.
A report by Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (NIK) published earlier this year concluded that the way in which remote education was carried out during the pandemic had worsened both the physical and mental health of pupils.
Health minister Niedzielski said this spring that the number of psychological counselling sessions for children and teenagers last year was twice the figure in 2020 and two-and-a-half times that for 2019.
A study cited by public officials last year found that the average Pole had gained almost 2 kg since the start of the pandemic, when, according to the health ministry, 54% of Poles were overweight.
While child obesity has been rising in Poland, it remains significantly below the levels found in some other European countries. Data from the World Health show that, before the pandemic, Cyprus had the highest level of obesity among both boys (21%) and girls (17%).
Main image credit: Towfiqu barbhuiya/Unsplash
Peter Kononczuk is senior editor at Notes from Poland. He was previously a journalist for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in London and Warsaw.
