One in five parents surveyed in a European study reported that their children started eating more salty and sweetsnacks during the pandemic, despite eating more fruit (10.3%), vegetables (7%) and dairy products (10.8%).

The new study by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that food consumption remained unchanged for 70 to 80% of children, but parents' perception of their children's nutritional status doubled for overweight children (from 8% before the pandemic to 16% in the pandemic period) and the percentage of children perceived as having normal weight fell from 82 to 73%.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Ana Rito, the INSA researcher who led the study, pointed out that a positive aspect of the pandemic was the improvement in various family behaviors, such as "sharing family meals" (29%), "preparing meals together with the child" (30%) and "buying food in large quantities" (28%), instead of going to the supermarket.

"Although we never associate positive aspects with the pandemic, there were, in fact, one or two aspects that we have to highlight and one of them was the greater time spent with the family (...) which allowed the child to be closer to his mother and father when cooking," recovering something that has been lost in today's lifestyle, he commented.

Sedentary lifestyle and poor diet increase

There were, however, "many other" aspects that "weren't such positive changes at the time", said Ana Rito, giving the example that, while on the one hand there was an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption in Portugal, very similar to the European average, and a decrease in the consumption of soft drinks and sugary products, on the other hand, "children consumed a lot more sugary products of a different nature, such as cookies, cakes and saltysnacks".

Sedentary activities also increased "on a large scale", with a decrease in the amount of time children spent actively playing on weekdays (28%) and at the weekend (23%) and a 36% increase in the amount of time spent watching TV, playing video games or on social networks.

More than a third of school-age children (34%) between the ages of six and ten increased the time they spent learning at home, including "teleschooling", by more than three hours a day, and parents also reported an increase in the number of hours children slept on weekdays (15%) and weekends (17%).

"The significant increase in these sedentary activities, combined with there being no opportunity for the children to practice physical activity [due to the confinement] (...) was something that certainly had an impact on the nutritional status and health of these children," as well as "the increased consumption of sugary products and uninteresting food products," Ana Rito pointed out.

Pointing out that the pandemic was "not the only cause" of the slight increase in overweight and obesity in Portugal, the researcher said that it was "a very difficult period for these children and for everyone", also in terms of well-being, mental health and psychosocial status.

And more sadness and loneliness

The majority of families from 17 European countries surveyed in the study perceived a general deterioration in their children's well-being during the covid-19 pandemic, with sadness and loneliness affecting one in five children.

On average, according to parents' perceptions, their child's "ability to have fun with friends" has worsened in 42% of cases, particularly in the child's ability to "enjoy activities in their free time" (27%) or to "have enough time for themselves" (19%).

Parents' perception of sadness and loneliness in their children was more frequent in the pandemic period for one in five children (20% and 24% respectively) and one in four children were also perceived by their parents as feeling less well and fit.

Given these results, Ana Rito said it was necessary to "reflect together" on the impact of this experience on children aged between 6 and 10 who are now teenagers.
"It had quite an impact on the psychosocial behaviour of these children" at a very important time in their lives when "they learn to socialize with their friends and with their classmates and teachers" at school.

Families' financial difficulties have increased

According to the study, the financial difficulties of European families have increased during the pandemic.
Between 2020 and 2022, 22% of children, 30% of mothers and 26% of fathers tested positive for covid-19 in the countries studied, a prevalence that in Portugal reached 55.3% in children.

The study "The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the daily routine and behavior of schoolchildren in Europe: results from 17 Member States", presented in Lisbon this Tuesday, gathered data from almost 55,000 families and children, the majority of whom were boys (51.8%) and eight-year-olds (54.8%).

Coordinated by the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA), the study aimed to understand the impact of the covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022) based on parents' perceptions of six dimensions: food consumption, family behaviors, physical activity and sedentary behaviors, characteristics of the family environment, child nutritional status, mental health and well-being.