Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41597075›Full record

ArticleChildren (Basel, Switzerland)2025

The Role of Screentime and Family Resiliency in Overweight/Obesity in Children and Children with Developmental Disabilities Before and During COVID-19.

Purnima S Mudnal, Emmeline Chuang, Olivia J Lindly, Jack Needleman, David A Ganz, Alice A Kuo

Abstract read
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Article in Children (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Purnima S MudnalSchool of Public Health & Health Sciences, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA 90747, USA.
Emmeline ChuangMack Center on Nonprofit and Public Sector Management in the Human Services, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Olivia J LindlyDepartment of Health Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0767-6321
Jack NeedlemanDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
David A GanzDepartment of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-8512-1641
Alice A KuoDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3737-9494

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectivesThis study examines factors associated with child overweight/obesity (OW/OB), pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic, among all U.S. children aged 10-17 years, with or without developmental disabilities (DD) and, separately, among the subgroup of children diagnosed with a DD.

methodsUsing data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH, 2018-2021), we applied descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses to estimate the odds ratios of associations between family resilience, screen time, and childhood overweight/obesity. Family resilience measures families' communication and problem-solving behaviors. Screentime is time spent on TV, computer, cellphone or electronic devices.

resultsIn descriptive analyses, during COVID-19, 35.8% of all children were identified as OW/OB compared to 32.8% pre-COVID-19-a weighted increase of 3.0%. Among children with developmental disabilities, OW/OB increased from 37.4% to 39.3%. Children reporting ≥4 h of screentime use increased from pre-COVID-19 to during COVID-19 in both groups (All Children: pre-COVID: 33.5%, during COVID: 41.6%; Developmental Disabilities: pre-COVID: 39.9%, during COVID: 49.4%). Among all children, there was a positive and strong association between screentime use and OW/OB at both pre- and during COVID-19 years. Children belonging to households with low family resiliency had 1.31 times the odds of being overweight/obese (95% CI, 1.06-1.63,

conclusionsPrevalence of overweight/obesity in all children and children with DD during the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rise. Screentime was found to be a key determinant in increased weight status. Contrary to our hypothesis, family resilience failed to emerge as a significant protective factor for OW/OB; additional research is needed to explore the protective role of family resiliency on childhood obesity. Study findings may provide insights into developing best practices and tailored interventions with early OW/OB screening and programs tailored towards the youngest group of children aged 10-12 years or below.

Indexed as

childchildren with special health care needsCOVID-19developmental disabilitiesfamily resilienceintellectual disabilityoverweightpediatric obesityscreen time

Identifiers

PMID41597075
PMCPMC12839913

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.