Obesity and activity patterns before and during COVID‐19 lockdown among youths in China

Summary This study aim to assess changes in obesity and activity patterns among youths in China during the COVID‐19 lockdown. We used the COVID‐19 Impact on lifestyle change survey (COINLICS), a national retrospective survey distributed via social media platforms in early May 2020 where more than 10 000 youth participants in China have voluntarily reported their basic sociodemographic information, weight status, and routine lifestyles in the months before and during COVID‐19 lockdown. The extended IOTF and WHO standards were used to define overweight and obesity of the participants. We used paired t‐tests or χ2 tests and non‐parametric methods to evaluate the significance of differences in weight‐related outcomes and lifestyles across education levels, between sexes, and before and during COVID‐19 lockdown. The mean body mass index of all participating youths has significantly increased (21.8‐22.6) and in all education subgroups during COVID‐19 lockdown. Increases also occurred in the prevalence of overweight/obesity (21.3%‐25.1%, P