By trying to protect children from the coronavirus, we’ve made them more vulnerable to it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that body mass index, a measure derived from the mass and height of a person, increased between March and November 2020 at nearly double the rate that it did before the pandemic. This weight gain was a particular problem among elementary-aged children, especially those who already struggled with obesity. Before the pandemic, these children were expected to gain about 6.5 pounds in one year. In 2020, that number shot up to 12 pounds.
Researchers argued that school closures, a lack of social activity, irregular routines, and increased stress played a part in this weight gain. In other words, public health officials’ attempt to shield children from COVID-19 by keeping them out of school and different environments in which they might be exposed to the virus have made our youngest generation significantly less healthy. But, unfortunately, it has also made them less capable of fighting off illnesses, including the coronavirus.
It is even more maddening considering children didn’t even need much protection in the first place. Several studies published last year showed children rarely contract symptomatic cases of COVID-19, and when they do, they are often mild. Comorbidities such as obesity, of course, make it much more likely that children will have a more challenging time fighting off the virus. But even so, death rates for COVID-19 among children between the ages of 0 and 17, obese or not, are 46% lower than the previous 10 flu seasons.
Can children get sick from COVID-19? Yes. But their immune systems are remarkably hardy, especially against the coronavirus. And that means we should be doing everything we can to build up those immune systems by exposing them to germs, dirt, and filth in classrooms, playgrounds, and friends’ houses.
Instead, the adults have tried to wrap them in bubble wrap and shield them from the world, and as a result, they’ve become socially anxious, academically challenged, and fat.
