The Impact of COVID‐19 on the Dietary Diversity of Children and Adolescents: Evidence from a Rural/Urban Panel Study

BackgroundCash transfer (CT) programmes are implemented widely to alleviate poverty and provide safety nets to vulnerable households with children. However, evidence on the effects of CTs on child health and nutrition outcomes has been mixed. We systematically reviewed evidence of the impact of CTs on child nutritional status and selected proximate determinants.MethodsWe searched articles published between January 1997 and September 2018 using Agris, Econlit, Eldis, IBSS, IDEAS, IFPRI, Google Scholar, PubMed and World Bank databases. We included studies using quantitative impact evaluation methods of CTs with sample sizes over 300, targeted to households with children under 5 years old conducted in countries with gross domestic product per capita below US$10 000 at baseline. We conducted meta-analysis using random-effects models to assess the impact of CT programmes on selected child nutrition outcomes and meta-regression analysis to examine the association of programme characteristics with effect sizes.ResultsOut of 2862 articles identified, 74 articles were eligible for inclusion. We find that CTs have significant effects of 0.03±0.03 on height-for-age z-scores (p<0.03) and a decrease of 2.1% in stunting (95% CI −3.5% to −0.7%); consumption of animal-source foods (4.5%, 95% CI 2.9% to 6.0%); dietary diversity (0.73, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.19) and diarrhoea incidence (−2.7%, 95% CI −5.4% to −0.0%; p<0.05). The effects of CTs on weight-for-age z-scores and wasting were not significant (0.02, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.08; p<0.42) and (1.2%, 95% CI: −0.1% to 2.5%; p<0.07), respectively. We found that specific programme characteristics differentially modified the effect on the nutrition outcomes studied.ConclusionWe found that CT programmes targeted to households with young children improved linear growth and contributed to reduced stunting. We found that the likely pathways were through increased dietary diversity, including through the increased consumption of animal-source foods and reduced incidence of diarrhoea. With heightened interest in nutrition-responsive social protection programmes to improve child nutrition, we make recommendations to inform the design and implementation of future programmes.

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Reply to Kersting et al. Comment on “Wunsch et al. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Interrelation of Physical Activity, Screen Time and Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents in Germany: Results of the Motorik-Modul Study. Children 2021, 8, 98”

Children ◽

10.3390/children8070533 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (7) ◽

pp. 533

Author(s):

Kathrin Wunsch ◽

Carina Nigg ◽

Claudia Niessner ◽

Steffen C. E. Schmidt ◽

Doris Oriwol ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Screen Time ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related ◽

The Impact

In reply to the comment of Kersting et al [...]

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The impact of symptomatic femoral neck anteversion and tibial torsion on gait, function and participation in children and adolescents

Gait & Posture ◽

10.1016/j.gaitpost.2021.03.004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 86 ◽

pp. 144-149

Author(s):

Jessie Mackay ◽

Pam Thomason ◽

Morgan Sangeux ◽

Elyse Passmore ◽

Kate Francis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Femoral Neck ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Tibial Torsion ◽

Femoral Neck Anteversion ◽

Gait Function ◽

The Impact

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Relative Validity of an Italian EPIC Food Frequency Questionnaire for Dietary Factors in Children and Adolescents. A Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute Study

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13041245 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1245

Author(s):

Inge Huybrechts ◽

Rossella Miglio ◽

Lorenza Mistura ◽

Sara Grioni ◽

Irene Pozzebon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Food Frequency Questionnaire ◽

Dietary Factors ◽

Food Groups ◽

Food Frequency ◽

Relative Validity ◽

Diary Method ◽

Italian Children ◽

The Impact

Dietary factors play a major role in the development of non-communicable diseases, however little is known regarding the impact of nutrition on rare diseases like sarcomas. This Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute study aimed to evaluate the relative validity of a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) to measure the consumption of foods in comparison with a 3-days diary diet in a healthy Italian student population aged between 12 and 17 years. An extended version (including food groups for children) of the semi-quantitative FFQ used in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) was administered. The validity of the FFQ was assessed by comparing the intakes from the FFQ against the 3-day diary method. 254 Italian subjects were included in the analyses: 128 females; 126 males; 116 from High Secondary School (14–17 years); 138 from Low Secondary School (12–13 years). Mean and median intakes are overall higher in the FFQs than in the food diaries. Spearman correlations adjusted for within-person variability were highest for legumes, vegetables and coffee/tea (>0.5), followed by potatoes, meat, fruits, breakfast cereals, biscuits and candies, and milk/yoghurts (>0.4). Moderate correlations were found for alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, juices, and grains (>0.3). For some food groups, such as fish, potatoes, and bread, correlations tend to become higher when stratifying the analyses for age group. These results demonstrate that the adapted EPIC COS FFQ validated in Italian adults is also appropriate and well understood by Italian children and adolescents.

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Eating habits of children and adolescents during the COVID‐19 pandemic: the impact of social isolation

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ◽

10.1111/jhn.12901 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michelle Teixeira Teixeira ◽

Raquel Santiago Vitorino ◽

Julia Holandino da Silva ◽

Letícia Martins Raposo ◽

Luana Azevedo de Aquino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Eating Habits ◽

The Impact

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The Impact of COVID-19 School Closure on Child and Adolescent Health: A Rapid Systematic Review

Children ◽

10.3390/children8050415 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 415

Author(s):

Sonia Chaabane ◽

Sathyanarayanan Doraiswamy ◽

Karima Chaabna ◽

Ravinder Mamtani ◽

Sohaila Cheema

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Adolescent Health ◽

Children With Disabilities ◽

Child And Adolescent ◽

Emergency Department Visits ◽

School Closure ◽

School Closures ◽

Child And Adolescent Health ◽

The Impact

School closures during pandemics raise important concerns for children and adolescents. Our aim is synthesizing available data on the impact of school closure during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on child and adolescent health globally. We conducted a rapid systematic review by searching PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar for any study published between January and September 2020. We included a total of ten primary studies. COVID-19-related school closure was associated with a significant decline in the number of hospital admissions and pediatric emergency department visits. However, a number of children and adolescents lost access to school-based healthcare services, special services for children with disabilities, and nutrition programs. A greater risk of widening educational disparities due to lack of support and resources for remote learning were also reported among poorer families and children with disabilities. School closure also contributed to increased anxiety and loneliness in young people and child stress, sadness, frustration, indiscipline, and hyperactivity. The longer the duration of school closure and reduction of daily physical activity, the higher was the predicted increase of Body Mass Index and childhood obesity prevalence. There is a need to identify children and adolescents at higher risk of learning and mental health impairments and support them during school closures.

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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural production, livelihoods, and food security in India: baseline results of a phone survey

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-021-01164-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lindsay M. Jaacks ◽

Divya Veluguri ◽

Rajesh Serupally ◽

Aditi Roy ◽

Poornima Prabhakaran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Dietary Diversity ◽

The Past ◽

Phone Survey ◽

Extra Food ◽

The Government ◽

Time Of Year ◽

Livestock Products ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on agricultural production, livelihoods, food security, and dietary diversity in India. Phone interview surveys were conducted by trained enumerators across 12 states and 200 districts in India from 3 to 15 May 2020. A total of 1437 farmers completed the survey (94% male; 28% 30–39 years old; 38% with secondary schooling). About one in ten farmers (11%) did not harvest in the past month with primary reasons cited being unfavorable weather (37%) and lockdown-related reasons (24%). A total of 63% of farmers harvested in the past month (primarily wheat and vegetables), but only 44% had sold their crop; 12% were still trying to sell their crop, and 39% had stored their crop, with more than half (55%) reporting lockdown-related issues as the reason for storing. Seventy-nine percent of households with wage-workers witnessed a decline in wages in the past month and 49% of households with incomes from livestock witnessed a decline. Landless farmers were about 10 times more likely to skip a meal as compared to large farmers (18% versus 2%), but a majority reported receiving extra food rations from the government. Nearly all farmers reported consuming staple grains daily in the past week (97%), 63% consumed dairy daily, 40% vegetables daily, 26% pulses daily, and 7% fruit daily. These values are much lower than reported previously for farmers in India around this time of year before COVID-19: 94–95% dairy daily, 57–58% pulses daily, 64–65% vegetables daily, and 42–43% fruit daily. In conclusion, we found that the COVID-19 lockdown in India has primarily impacted farmers’ ability to sell their crops and livestock products and decreased daily wages and dietary diversity.

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The association between a conditional cash transfer programme and malaria incidence: a longitudinal ecological study in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2015

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-11255-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Layana Costa Alves ◽

Mauro Niskier Sanchez ◽

Thomas Hone ◽

Luiz Felipe Pinto ◽

Joilda Silva Nery ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fixed Effects ◽

Negative Binomial ◽

Malaria Incidence ◽

Panel Study ◽

Negative Binomial Regression ◽

Brazilian Amazon ◽

Conditional Cash Transfer ◽

Cash Transfer ◽

Percentage Point Increase ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Malaria causes 400 thousand deaths worldwide annually. In 2018, 25% (187,693) of the total malaria cases in the Americas were in Brazil, with nearly all (99%) Brazilian cases in the Amazon region. The Bolsa Família Programme (BFP) is a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme launched in 2003 to reduce poverty and has led to improvements in health outcomes. CCT programmes may reduce the burden of malaria by alleviating poverty and by promoting access to healthcare, however this relationship is underexplored. This study investigated the association between BFP coverage and malaria incidence in Brazil. Methods A longitudinal panel study was conducted of 807 municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2015. Negative binomial regression models adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic covariates and time trends were employed with fixed effects specifications. Results A one percentage point increase in municipal BFP coverage was associated with a 0.3% decrease in the incidence of malaria (RR = 0.997; 95% CI = 0.994–0.998). The average municipal BFP coverage increased 24 percentage points over the period 2004–2015 corresponding to be a reduction of 7.2% in the malaria incidence. Conclusions Higher coverage of the BFP was associated with a reduction in the incidence of malaria. CCT programmes should be encouraged in endemic regions for malaria in order to mitigate the impact of disease and poverty itself in these settings.

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Family violence against children in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: a review of current perspectives and risk factors

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health ◽

10.1186/s13034-020-00347-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Noemí Pereda ◽

Diego A. Díaz-Faes

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Family Violence ◽

Violence Against Children ◽

The People ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Vulnerable Families ◽

The Social ◽

Restrictive Measures ◽

Criminological Theories ◽

The Impact

Abstract The situation of crisis produced by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic poses major challenges to societies all over the world. While efforts to contain the virus are vital to protect global health, these same efforts are exposing children and adolescents to an increased risk of family violence. Various criminological theories explain the causes of this new danger. The social isolation required by the measures taken in the different countries, the impact on jobs, the economic instability, high levels of tension and fear of the virus, and new forms of relationships have all increased levels of stress in the most vulnerable families and, therefore, the risk of violence. In addition, mandatory lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of the disease have trapped children in their homes, isolating them from the people and the resources that could help them. In general, the restrictive measures imposed in many countries have not been accompanied by an analysis of the access to the resources needed to reduce this risk. It is necessary to take urgent measures to intervene in these high-risk contexts so that children and adolescents can develop and prosper in a society which is likely to undergo profound changes, but in which the defense of their rights and protection must remain a major priority.

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