(P15-029-24) Obesity Indices Positively Correlate With Age in 2 to 5-Year-Old Children in a Head Start Program and Was Exacerbated by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Objectives: To investigate the correlation of obesity indices with age and the potential impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated lockdown measures on obesity risk among children in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Head Start program.

Methods: De-identified nutrition/growth screening data from the years 2014 – 2023 were provided by UAMS Head Start (UAMS IRB #275871). Data from a total of 3875 children between 2 – 5 years of age were included in the analyses. The correlations between obesity indices (i.e. BMI z-score, weight for age z-score) and age (month) were analyzed in boys and girls, respectively, by linear regression. Furthermore, data from a subset of 594 children with consecutive BMI measurements between 2015 – 2017, 2017 – 2019, and 2019 – 2021 were analyzed by paired sample t-tests for changes in BMI scores over two-year periods prior to (2015 – 2017, 2017 – 2019) and during (2019 - 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: BMI z-score and weight for age z-score were positively correlated with age (month) in both boys and girls (p < 0.001 in all analyses). In the subset of children with BMI measurements spanning a two-year period between 2015 – 2017, 2017 – 2019, or 2019 – 2021, girls had two-year BMI z-score increases by 0.269 from 2015 – 2017 (n= 134, p < 0.001), 0.308 from 2017 – 2019 (n = 125, p < 0.001), and 0.390 from 2019 – 2021 (n = 58, p < 0.01). Boys did not have BMI z-score increases prior to the COVID-19 pandemic [-0.049 (2015-2017) (n = 134), 0.025 (2017-2019) (n = 121)], and a significant increase of 0.346 during the pandemic (2019-2021) (n = 56, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The risk of developing childhood obesity may increase with age in children in the UAMS Head Start Program. The COVID-19 pandemic affected BMI trajectory differently between girls and boys in this population.

Funding Sources: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.