399 - Body Mass Index Percentile Changes during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Friday, April 28, 2023
5:15 PM – 7:15 PM ET
Poster Number: 399 Publication Number: 399.146
Apryl Susi, Henry M. Jackson Foundation at USUHS, GWU, Bethesda, MD, United States; Sarah Prabhakar, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Silver Spring, MD, United States; Madeline Dorr, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Gaithersburg, MD, United States; Jill E. Emerick, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Damascus, MD, United States; ELIZABETH HISLE-GORMAN, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD, United States; Cade M. Nylund, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, United States
Clinical Epidemiologist III Henry M. Jackson Foundation at USUHS, GWU Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Background: Recent studies have examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on body mass index (BMI) change in children and adolescents and have reported increases in BMIs and the rate at which BMIs are increasing. While documentation of these increases exist, differences in sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and region have not yet been widely reported. Objective: To determine whether and how BMI percentiles changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in military connected children and report differences between demographic groups. Design/Methods: The retrospective cohort study included those with at least two height and weight measurements, at least one before the pandemic (Jan 2018-Feb 2020), and at least one a year into the pandemic (Mar 2021-Apr 2022). The study population was limited to those aged 2-17 years at their pre-pandemic measurement and dependents of military members. The last measurement before and the first measurement a year into the pandemic were utilized. Height and weight measurements were converted into BMI-for-age and sex percentiles. Annual BMI percentile change was calculated for each individual. Annual BMI percentile changes were compared for sex, age, sponsor rank (SES surrogate), and region utilizing generalized linear modeling. Results: Of 341,976 unique individuals with two measurements, a median of 2.1 years apart, there was an overall significant annual BMI percentile increase of 0.67 (p< 0.001), with increases across all demographic subgroups(Table 1). The overall median initial BMI percentile was 59.89, with a median followup percentile of 64.45. In adjusted models, older age was associated with a lower percentile change, females experienced an annual percentile increase 0.18 units greater than males, children of senior vs. junior enlisted individuals were not different, but children of officers had 0.68 unit smaller annual percentile change compared to children of junior enlisted. Residents in the western region had 0.34 unit larger increases than those in the South; residents in the North and outside the US were not different compared to the South(Table 2).
Conclusion(s): Our study found a 0.67 annual BMI percentile change comparing pre-pandemic to at least one year post pandemic measurements in children and adolescents. This large population study corroborates previous findings. We further demonstrated that females, children of junior enlisted (lowest SES), and those living in the West experienced the largest increases in annual BMI percentile. Virtual school, decreases in team sports, and social isolation may have led to these increasing BMI during the COVID-19 pandemic.
