Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-h5th4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-09T10:43:02.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nutritional status of schoolchildren before and after confinement by COVID-19 (2019–2021) in Jujuy, Argentina

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2024

María José Bustamante Open the ORCID record for María José Bustamante [Opens in a new window] ,
Juan Manuel Solis ,
Celia Margarita Tabera ,
Natalia Maraz ,
Gisela Belén del Rosario Gutiérrez  and
José Edgardo Dipierri
María José Bustamante*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy (UNJu) - CONICET, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina Instituto de Biología de la Altura, UNJu, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Juan Manuel Solis
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, UNJu, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Celia Margarita Tabera
Affiliation:
Plan de Contingencia y Comedores Escolares, Secretaria de Equidad Educativa, Ministerio de Educación de la provincia de Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Natalia Maraz
Affiliation:
Estadística Educativa, Ministerio de Educación de la provincia de Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
Gisela Belén del Rosario Gutiérrez
Affiliation:
Dirección de Información, Monitoreo y Evaluación Educativa, SICE, Ministerio de Educación de la provincia de Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
José Edgardo Dipierri
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy (UNJu) - CONICET, San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina
*
Corresponding author: María José Bustamante; Email: mjbustamante@inbial.unju.edu.ar
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An increase in the prevalence of obesity due to lockdown and confinement linked to COVID-19 is observed. Variations in the nutritional status of schoolchildren from Jujuy are analyzed in relation to confinement due to COVID-19 (2019–2021) and its relationship with socio-demographic variables and the school environment. This is an observational, descriptive study. Data from 56,695 schoolchildren aged 6–18 years old is analyzed based on two temporary cuts (2019 pre-confinement and 2021 post-confinement). The nutritional status of schoolchildren (underweight, overweight, and obese) was established using the IOTF (International Obesity Task Force) criterion. The prevalence of each nutritional phenotype was estimated by sex and age group, considering the following independent variables: setting (rural/urban), school management system (public/private), geographic altitude, and percentage of households with unmet basic needs (UBN) in the place where they attend school. Multiple proportions contrast was performed using Fisher's test, a transition matrix ws produced and a statistical model of proportional odds was fitted. It was observed that between 2019 and 2021, the prevalence of underweight decreased and the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased significantly. In 2021, 67% of schoolchildren maintained the same nutritional category that they had in 2019, 21% gained weight and 12% lost weight. The model explains about 52% of the total variability observed. The factors that are significantly correlated in the model are school cycle, age, geographic altitude, school setting, and % of households with UBN. The results indicate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift to the right in the distribution of the nutritional status categories of the schoolchildren population in Jujuy, with a decrease in the prevalence of underweight and an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity with variations related to age, school location, geographic altitude, and socioeconomic characteristics of the households in the place where the children attended school.

Keywords

COVID-19transitionobesity

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , July 2024 , pp. 683 - 692
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bejarano, I, Dipierri, J, Alfaro, E, Quispe, Y and Cabrera, G (2005) Evolución de la prevalencia de sobrepeso, obesidad y desnutrición en escolares de San Salvador de Jujuy. Archivos argentinos de pediatría 103(2), 101–109.Google Scholar
Blüher, M (2019) Obesity: Global epidemiology and pathogenesis. Nature Reviews Endocrinology 15(5), 288–298. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0176-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brambilla, I, Delle Cave, F, Guarracino, C, De Filippo, M, Votto, M, Licari, A, Pistone, C and Tondina, E (2022) Obesity and COVID-19 in children and adolescents: A double pandemic. Acta Biomedica Atenei Parmensis 93(S3), e2022195. https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v93iS3.13075.Google ScholarPubMed
Bustamante, MJ, Alfaro, EL, Dipierri, JE and Román, MD (2021) Excess weight and thinness over two decades (1996–2015) and spatial distribution in children from Jujuy, Argentina. BMC Public Health 21(1), 196. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10239-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaabane, S, Doraiswamy, S, Chaabna, K, Mamtani, R and Cheema, S (2021) The impact of COVID-19 school closure on child and adolescent health: A rapid systematic review. Children 8(5), 415. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8050415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clemmensen, C, Petersen, MB and Sørensen, TIA (2020) Will the COVID-19 pandemic worsen the obesity epidemic? Nature Reviews Endocrinology 16(9), 469–470. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-020-0387-z.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, TJ, Bellizzi, MC, Flegal, KM and Dietz, WH (2000) Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: International survey. BMJ (Clinical Research Edition) 320(7244), 1240–1243. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.320.7244.1240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, TJ, Flegal, KM, Nicholls, D and Jackson, AA (2007) Body mass index cut offs to define thinness in children and adolescents: International survey. BMJ 335(7612), 194. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39238.399444.55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dari, NL, Quiroz, SS and Cervini, RA (2022) Nivel socioeconómico y brecha entre los logros educativos de los sectores público y privado en Argentina. PISA 2018: Array. ESPACIOS EN BLANCO. Serie Indagaciones 2(32), Article 32. https://doi.org/10.37177/UNICEN/EB32-335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunton, GF, Do, B and Wang, SD (2020) Early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity and sedentary behavior in children living in the U.S. BMC Public Health 20(1), 1351. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09429-3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enriquez-Martinez, OG, Martins, MCT, Pereira, TSS, Pacheco, SOS, Pacheco, FJ, Lopez, KV, Huancahuire-Vega, S, Silva, DA, Mora-Urda, AI, Rodriguez-Vásquez, M, Montero López, MP and Molina, MCB (2021) Diet and lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ibero-American Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Spain. Frontiers in Nutrition 8, 671004. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.671004.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feres, JC and Mancero, X (2001) El método de las necesidades basicas insatisfechas. En CEPAL, El método de las necesidades básicas insatisfechas (NBI) y sus aplicaciones en América Latina (p. 53). Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe. https://www.cepal.org/es/publicaciones/4784-metodo-necesidades-basicas-insatisfechas-nbi-sus-aplicaciones-america-latina (accessed 20 September 2023).Google Scholar
Gobierno de la República Argentina (2020) Aislamiento social preventivo y obligatorio (decreto 297/2020). Legislación y Avisos Oficiales. 2020, Marzo 20. https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/227042/20200320 (accessed 20 September 2023).Google Scholar
Guarisco, G and Leonetti, F (2021) COVID-19 and diabesity: When a pandemia cross another pandemia. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity 26(5), 1283–1286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00958-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, J, Liu, J, Wang, J, Shen, M, Ge, W, Shen, H, Zhang, T, Yang, H and Yin, J (2021) Unfavorable progression of obesity in children and adolescents due to COVID-19 pandemic: A school-based survey in China. Obesity 29(11), 1907–1915. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.23276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Intelangelo, L, Molina Gutiérrez, N, Bevacqua, N, Mendoza, C, Guzmán-Guzmán, IP and Jerez-Mayorga, D (2021) Effect of confinement by COVID-19 on the lifestyle of the University Population of Argentina: Evaluation of physical activity, food and sleep (Efecto del confinamiento por COVID-19 sobre el estilo de vida en población universitaria de Argentina: Evaluaci. Retos 43, 274–282. https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v43i0.88461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knebusch, V, Williams, J, Yordi Aguirre, I, Weber, MW, Rakovac, I and Breda, J (2021) Effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the policy response on childhood obesity risk factors: Gender and sex differences and recommendations for research. Obesity Reviews: An Official Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 22(6), e13222. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lange, SJ, Kompaniyets, L, Freedman, DS, Kraus, EM, Porter, R, Blanck, HM and Goodman, AB (2021) Longitudinal trends in Body Mass Index before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among persons aged 2–19 years—United States, 2018–2020. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 70(37), 1278–1283. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7037a3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meyer, E, Carrillo, R, Román, EM, Bejarano, I and Dipierri, J (2013) Prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad en escolares jujeños de diferente nivel altitudinal según las referencias IOTF, CDC y OMS. Archivos Argentinos de Pediatria 111(6), 516–522. https://doi.org/10.5546/aap.2013.516.Google Scholar
Pietrobelli, A, Pecoraro, L, Ferruzzi, A, Heo, M, Faith, M, Zoller, T, Antoniazzi, F, Piacentini, G, Fearnbach, SN and Heymsfield, SB (2020) Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on lifestyle behaviors in children with obesity living in Verona, Italy: A longitudinal study. Obesity 28(8), 1382–1385. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Qiu, N, He, H, Qiao, L, Ding, Y, Ji, S, Guo, X, Luo, J, Luo, Z, Li, Y, Pang, H, Huang, Y and Zhang, L (2021) Sex differences in changes in BMI and blood pressure in Chinese school-aged children during the COVID-19 quarantine. International Journal of Obesity 45(9), 2132–2136. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00871-w.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruiz-Roso, MB, De Carvalho Padilha, P, Mantilla-Escalante, DC, Ulloa, N, Brun, P, Acevedo-Correa, D, Arantes Ferreira Peres, W, Martorell, M, Aires, MT, De Oliveira Cardoso, L, Carrasco-Marín, F, Paternina-Sierra, K, Rodriguez-Meza, JE, Montero, PM, Bernabè, G, Pauletto, A, Taci, X, Visioli, F and Dávalos, A (2020) Covid-19 confinement and changes of adolescent’s dietary trends in Italy, Spain, Chile, Colombia and Brazil. Nutrients 12(6), 1807. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12061807.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rundle, AG, Park, Y, Herbstman, JB, Kinsey, EW and Wang, YC (2020) COVID-19–related school closings and risk of weight gain among children. Obesity 28(6), 1008–1009. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.22813.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stavridou, A, Kapsali, E, Panagouli, E, Thirios, A, Polychronis, K, Bacopoulou, F, Psaltopoulou, T, Tsolia, M, Sergentanis, TN and Tsitsika, A (2021) Obesity in children and adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic. Children 8(2), 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8020135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stefan, N, Birkenfeld, AL and Schulze, MB (2021) Global pandemics interconnected—obesity, impaired metabolic health and COVID-19. Nature Reviews Endocrinology 17(3), 135–149. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-020-00462-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
von Hippel, PT and Workman, J (2016) From kindergarten through second grade, U.S. children’s obesity prevalence grows only during summer vacations. Obesity 24(11), 2296–2300. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21613.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wen, J, Zhu, L and Ji, C (2021) Changes in weight and height among Chinese preschool children during COVID-19 school closures. International Journal of Obesity 45(10), 2269–2273. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-021-00912-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WHO (2020) Announces COVID-19 Outbreak a Pandemic. https://www.who.int/europe/emergencies/situations/covid-19 (accessed 20 September 2023).Google Scholar
Yang, S, Guo, B, Ao, L, Yang, C, Zhang, L, Zhou, J and Jia, P (2020) Obesity and activity patterns before and during COVID-19 lockdown among youths in China. Clinical Obesity 10(6), e12416. https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.12416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed