Apart from influencing the health of the worldwide population, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the day-to-day life of all, including children. A sedentary lifestyle along with the transformation of eating and sleep habits took place in the child population. These changes created a highly obesogenic environment. Our aim was to evaluate the current weight in the child population and identify the real effects of the pandemic. Height and weight data were collected by pediatricians from the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods from 3517 children (1759 boys and 1758 girls) aged 4.71 to 17.33 years. We found a significant rise in the z-score BMI between pediatric visits in the years 2019 and 2021 in both sexes aged 7, 9, 11, and 13 years. Especially alarming were the percentages of (severely) obese boys at the ages of 9 and 11 years, which exceed even the percentages of overweight boys. With the use of statistical modeling, we registered the most dramatic increment at around 12 years of age in both sexes. Based on our research in the Czech Republic, we can confirm the predictions that were given at the beginning of the pandemic that COVID-19-related restrictions worsened the already present problem of obesity and excess weight in children.

Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics Faculty of Science Charles University Albertov 6 128 00 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Computer Science Czech Academy of Sciences Pod Vodárenskou Věží 271 2 182 00 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Endocrinology Národní 8 110 00 Prague Czech Republic

MUDr Bohuslav Procházka s r o Radnická 635 284 01 Kutná Hora Czech Republic

National Institute of Public Health Srobarova 48 100 00 Prague Czech Republic

Zdravotní Středisko Krásné Březno U Pivovarské Zahrady 5 400 07 Ústí nad Labem Czech Republic

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