The Impact of Covid-19 Related School Closures on Children's Weight Status

项目摘要 拟议的项目有两个目标：1)评估学校停课的短期和长期影响 新冠肺炎大流行对学生体重状况的强制要求，以及2)审查 在关闭期间实施了针对儿童的食品援助方案。虽然有一些证据表明 暑假期间学校的中断导致小学生体重增加，我们 几乎没有基础来预测史无前例的6个月或更长时间的中断的影响 冠状病毒。根据家庭第一冠状病毒应对法案，美国农业部延长了夏季 在疫情相关的学校停课期间为儿童提供食物的供餐计划；美国农业部还 通过校外大流行电子福利转移卡授权的紧急食品援助 有资格参加学校餐饮计划的儿童。虽然过去曾向一些人提供夏餐 学生通过暑期膳食计划，研究确定这些计划的充分性在 缺少解决体重状态的问题。为了达到研究目的，我们将收集和分析护士测量的数据 新泽西州120所公立学校为低收入儿童提供服务的儿童的身高和体重数据。 中断的时间序列分析将应用于在学校停课前收集的数据，在四个学校 2013-14至2019-20学年(SY)(每年约30,000名学生)；以及另外两年 停课后的学年，一年是学校重新开学(SY2020-21)，另一年是两年 后来(SY2022-23)。对于同一学年，我们将把学校食物的年度数据作为协变量 以及已被发现与体重状况相关的体力活动(PA)环境，以及 对周围食物和PA环境的测量会影响肥胖率。关于运营的新数据 以及两个以儿童为目标的联邦食品援助计划在学校集水区的覆盖范围 将收集学校停课的课程，以确定这些计划的缓解潜力。这个 建议的研究将为我们理解长期影响做出独特贡献的一个关键 影响到约3000万主要是低收入儿童的联邦肥胖政策的层面--提供 免费和降价的学校餐饮。因此，调查结果将对我们准备好应对 未来的灾难以及我们为确保食品安全网的充分性所作的努力。

Project Summary The proposed project has two aims: 1) to assess the short and long-term impact of school closures mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ weight status, and 2) to examine the mitigating potential of child-targeted food assistance programs implemented during the closures. While there is some evidence that interruptions in school during summer recess result in weight gain among children in elementary grades, we have little basis for predicting the effects of a hiatus of unprecedented length, 6 months or more posed by the coronavirus. Pursuant to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the USDA extended the summer feeding program to deliver meals to children during the pandemic-related school closures; the USDA also authorized emergency food assistance through Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer cards for out-of-school children who qualify for school meals programs. While summer meals have been provided in the past to some students through summer meals programs, research establishing the adequacy of these programs in addressing weight status is lacking. To address the study aims, we will collect and analyze nurse-measured heights and weights data on children attending 120 public schools serving low-income children in New Jersey. Interrupted times series analyses will be applied to data collected prior to school closures, during four school years (SY) between 2013-14 and 2019-20 (approximately 30,000 students per year); and an additional two school years post-closure, one coinciding with the re-opening of schools (SY2020-21) and the other two years later (SY2022-23). For the same school years, we will incorporate, as covariates, annual data on school food and physical activity (PA) environments that have been found to be associated with weight status, as well as measures of the surrounding food and PA environment known to affect obesity rates. New data on operation and reach of the two federal, child-targeted food assistance programs in school catchment areas over the course of school closures will be collected to establish the mitigating potential of these programs. The proposed study will make a unique contribution to our understanding of the long-term effects of a key dimension of federal obesity policy affecting some thirty million predominantly low-income children – provision of free and reduced priced school meals. As such, the findings will be critical to our readiness to respond to future disasters and to our efforts to assure the adequacy of the food safety net.