AAP Voices Blog

I saw a patient three months ago, in the pre-COVID-19 era, for her well child check. The 11-year-old was struggling with obesity. At that visit, she was excited about a bike that she was gifted for her birthday.

She had made a lifestyle goal to start biking for 30 minutes three days a week, going out with her parents when they returned home from work. We scheduled a follow-up appointment to check on her progress in the coming months.

Fast forward to our stay-at-home situation three months later, when I saw this patient for her follow-up appointment. Given new distancing precautions, the appointment was converted to a video visit, and I was glad to see that she and her mother had logged on.

When we recalled our last visit together, my patient shared that she had not taken her bike out from the garage since then. The week after seeing me, her school closed, replaced by a couple of hours of instruction online in the afternoon. She slept until noon, did her schoolwork, ate dinner and then watched TV until she went back to bed.

With shelter-in-place orders and fears of transmission, my patient refrained from going outside. This sedentary lifestyle had become her new daily routine.

There was no longer scheduled physical activity in her day. Distance learning screen time was followed by recreational screen time. Nonperishable foods filled the kitchen because the family wanted to avoid frequenting grocery stores.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already insidious pediatric obesity pandemic.

We took the opportunity to discuss re-establishing routines, setting up bedtimes and wake-up times, and finding opportunities for physical activity, even if it’s indoors. Together, we came up with a new goal: a 30-minute YouTube workout video would replace her online after-school TV binges.

I like to think she was growing bored of sitting still at home anyway. Time will tell if this plan worked and if my patients will exercise more outdoors with stay-at-home orders being lifted.

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*The views expressed in this article are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics.