Trial reportBMC public health2022
Explaining the complex impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children with overweight and obesity: a comparative ecological analysis of parents' perceptions in three countries.
Trial report in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative Effectiveness of East Asian Traditional Medicine for Childhood Simple Obesity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's mental health: A systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Turning the Tide on Childhood Overweight and Obesity: More Than a Decade of Positive Change Among 4-Year-Olds in Northern Sweden.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- The prevalence of overweight among 4-year-olds during and after the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with socioeconomic burden.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2025Article
- Parental Neglect and Childhood Obesity Amidst COVID-19: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective on Health and Developmental Risks.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Article
- The Increase in Childhood Obesity and Its Association with Hypertension during Pandemics.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Understanding the corporate political activity of the ultra - processed food industry in East Asia: a Philippines case study.Globalization and health · 2023Article
- Changes in the Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Peruvian Children under Five Years before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Nationwide Population-Based Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Covid-19 pandemic has changed children's eating and physical activity behaviours. These changes have been positive for some households and negative for others, revealing health inequalities that have ramifications for childhood obesity. This study investigates the pandemic's impact on families of children aged 2-6 years with overweight or obesity.
methodsDrawing on interviews conducted as part of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) for childhood obesity, thematic analysis was used to examine how parents of pre-schoolers perceived changes in their eating, screentime and physical activity behaviours between the first and second waves of Covid-19. Parents (n = 70, representing 68 families) were interviewed twice during a period of 6 months in three countries with markedly different pandemic policies - Sweden, Romania, and Spain. The analysis is informed by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, which embeds home- and school-based influences within societal and policy contexts.
resultsThe findings show that, although all participants were recruited from an RCT for families of children with excess weight, they reported different responses to the pandemic's second wave, with some children engaging in healthier eating and physical activity, and others engaging in comfort eating and a more sedentary lifestyle. Differences in children's obesity-related behaviours were closely related to differences in parents' practices, which were, in turn, linked to their emotional and social wellbeing. Notably, across all sites, parents' feeding and physical activity facilitation practices, as well as their emotional and social wellbeing, were embedded in household resilience. In resilient households, where parents had secure housing and employment, they were better able to adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic, whereas parents who experienced household insecurity found it more difficult to cope.
conclusionsAs the Covid-19 pandemic is turning into a long-term public health challenge, studies that address household resilience are crucial for developing effective prevention and treatment responses to childhood obesity.
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Registered trials
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