Eating habits and physical activity in school-age children during the pandemic.

Abstract

Introduction: The child nutritional and physical health panorama in Latin America is threatened and negatively affected by different factors. During this last year, the effects of the ongoing pandemic were noticeable, since the compulsory lockdown forced school-age children to stay at home and take virtual classes, altering their lifestyle. The objective of this study was to identify the eating habits and physical activity of children attending the Gral. Manuel Belgrano school in the city of Oliva during the 2020-2021 pandemic lockdown period. Methods: A systematic revision of different authors proposing similar studies was carried out; all the data collected was transferred to an Excel matrix for their analisis. A quantitative, descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was carried out. An anonymous, close-ended survey including variables such as “Eating habits” and “Physical activity” was used as a data collection method to inquire parents of school-age children. Results and discussion: It must be highlighted that most of the surveyed parents agree that there was a significant change in their children’s eating habits and physical activity during the pandemic, and that new technologies were more intensively used, both adequately and inadequately. Finally, advice was given to the school authorities, teachers and nursing staff. Conclusion: Eating habits and physical activity in school-age children were influenced by diverse factors during the pandemic, mostly related to changes in schedules, in meal quantity and quality, in screen time, in the amount of hours not spent outside the home, and in physical activity.