Increased weight gain in children during the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported. Changes in weight in children with asthma during this period have not been well described.
Methods:
Retrospective review of children with asthma, 6–18 years of age, seen in 2019 and 2020. Mean monthly rates of change in body mass index (BMI) were compared between years. Demographic and asthma-related factors were examined.
Results:
Two hundred sixty-seven patients were enrolled. BMI increased by 0.128 ± 0.283 kg/m2/month during the pandemic year as compared with 0.084 ± 0.160 kg/m2/month during the previous year (P = 0.03). Patients with baseline overweight or obesity trended toward higher rates of BMI increase than those starting with normal weight, with the greatest BMI increase occurring in the severely obese.
Conclusions:
In this single-site study of children with asthma, there was a greater monthly rate of BMI gain during the early pandemic as compared with that observed in the previous year.
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