Obesity increased among high school students in Japan between April 2020 and March 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by the National Center for Child Health and Development.
The study analyzed health check data from about 186,000 people who graduated from high school between fiscal year 2020, which began in April of that year, and fiscal year 2022. This data was then compared to predicted grades based on data from approximately 210,000 people who graduated in 2020. fiscal year 2019 or earlier.
It showed that obesity rates for both male and female students had increased since the 2020 financial year, with the 2022 financial year figures for male and female students respectively being 0.49% and 0.36% higher than predicted.
The findings were published in the online edition of the international journal Pediatric Obesity.
The study also showed a trend toward poorer uncorrected vision among students. The proportion of students whose uncorrected vision was less than 1.0 was higher than predicted for male students in fiscal years 2020 to 2022 and for female students in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.
The results are believed to reflect the increased use of tablet computers and smartphones during the pandemic.
Yusuke Okubo, head of the center’s clinical epidemiology department, said it is necessary to consider a study on the long-term effects of the pandemic on children’s health and take specific measures to mitigate the negative health effects.
