Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed as well as in developing countries. According to WHO data, an increasing number of low- and middle-income countries are now facing the "double burden" of obesity and overweightness. This problem is increasing aggressively in urban settings. This rise has occurred similarly among boys and girls. In 2016, 18% of girls and 19% of boys were overweight. In comparison, two data illustrate the pandemic scale of childhood obesity growth: just under 1% of children and adolescents aged 5–19 were obese in 1975, while more than 124 million children and adolescents (6% of girls and 8% of boys) were obese in 2016. A study conducted by The National Institute of Endocrinology Tbilisi, Georgia has identified additional childhood epidemic outbreak linked with post-COVID lifestyle.

Methods and Materials: The target group was 828 children aged 5–8 years who underwent medical and physical examinations during ambulatory visits to The National Institute of Endocrinology clinics in 2021 and 2022. Children with congenital disease and/or birth weights lower than 2500 g were excluded. Only the information collected during the first visit was used to evaluate the post-COVID effect on childhood obesity statistics. The collected data included age, gender, and anthropometric characteristics. Statistical analyses were performed using the electronic health system Doctra Enterprise, version 8.3.19.1150. BMI-for-age percentile was calculated based on CDC growth charts for children and teens aged 2 through 19 years (3).

Results: The medical records for 730 patients aged 5–8 years, of which: 426 were girls and 304 were boys, were analyzed. During 2021, from 326 evaluated patients, 50.92% (n=166) had healthy weights, 13.49% (n=44) were overweight, 30.06% (n=98) were obese, and 2.45% (n=8) were underweight. During 2022, from 404 evaluated patients, 42.07% (n=170) had healthy weights, 15.34% (n=62) were overweight, 37.62% (n=152) were obese, and 4.95% (n=20) were underweight.

Conclusions: There has been a significant increase in the incidence of obesity among children. A limitation of this study was the small number of participants and scope of the inquiry. However, the spike in overweight and obesity cases indicates as yet unknown changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several studies are currently being conducted by The National Institute of Endocrinology in Tbilisi, Georgia to determine the root cause of the current spike.