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Course: Association of Changes in Obesity Prevalence With the COVID-19 Pandemic in Youth in Massachusetts

CME Credits: 1.00

Released: 2021-12-13

The COVID-19 pandemic and its social stressors have hindered obesity prevention and management. Obesity prevalence has been rising in the US, particularly in Black and Mexican American adolescents. Few population-level studies have examined the effects of COVID-19 on childhood obesity prevalence. An observational study found childhood obesity prevalence in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, region increased from 13.7% to 15.4% (2019-2020). The study included all patient visits and analyzed 2 time periods without a control period. Given obesity prevalence had been increasing prior to COVID-19, the observed increase may be overstated. Using the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s disease surveillance system (MDPHnet), we examined obesity prevalence in 3 periods from 2018 to 2020 in a fixed cohort of children and adolescents.


Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article


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