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Children complain of various pains.
According to the head of the Pediatric Neurology Department of the Santara Clinics Pediatric Center, dr. Rūta Praninskienė, the study found that quarantine and distance learning worsened not only the emotional but also the physical condition of more than a third of the children. This is due to the fact that children spent more time in front of screens and less time outdoors, were less physically active, did not have a consistent schedule and sleep regimen, and their parents also felt more stressful.
“We noticed that for children who had emotional and behavioral problems even before the pandemic, they got worse. Hospital neurology departments are almost full: children complain of various disorders caused by both organic diseases and emotional state.
According to our data, the time spent on screens during quarantine has doubled compared to previous studies. A small percentage of those surveyed indicated that they spend between 10 and 12 hours a day in front of screens. There are cases in which, when parents try to limit the presence of children near the screen, the child suffers severe attacks of aggression by kicking doors and breaking windows, “said the interlocutor.
Children’s Hospital Photo / Rūta Praninskienė
According to the study, nearly half of the children experienced headaches at least occasionally during their quarantine, about 13 percent. indicated experiencing them frequently. Similar results were obtained by interviews for abdominal pain. Other ailments: visual, sleep, movement disorders, panic attacks, other pain. Some children have even developed a dependence on technology with all the withdrawal symptoms that stem from it.
By the way, for those who had pre-quarantine headaches, they increased, especially migraines. According to the researchers, this was also negatively affected by the constant wearing of masks: a study of adults by neurologists showed that compressive facial pain can actually occur when masks put pressure on the ears.
Sleep disturbances and increased eating disorders.
R.Praninskienė mentioned the fact that the children’s regimen was significantly unbalanced during the quarantine. Although distance learning was an opportunity to get more sleep in the morning, the overall duration of sleep did not increase. It may even have been shortened. This was due to inadequate wakefulness and sleep, prolonged sleep, and the use of pre-sleep screens. The so-called blue light emanating from the screens prolongs the duration of sleep. Less physical activity also contributed to sleep problems.
“Due to the circadian sleep drive and waking rhythm, the children were sleep deprived because lessons in many schools still started at 8 pm in the morning. The children became more irritable, angrier and this, as the study showed, also affected learning outcomes.
In the morning, they were sleepy and even toned up with coffee or other stimulating drinks. The resulting emotional and physical disturbances were also found to affect motivation to learn. For example, children with headaches felt less willing to learn.
There were also cases where the circadian rhythm was completely dissipated, causing children to wake up and wake up at night but sleep for half a day.
The circadian rhythm is a very important source of our health. Their disorders carry a risk of obesity, since night meals start, hunger and satiety disappear. There is also a decrease in work capacity, concentration of attention, and a weakened nervous system. Furthermore, the risk of developing various chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases, increases with age ”, explained the neurologist.
It should also be noted that some disorders are related to each other. For example, prolonged screen viewing has affected the vision of some children. And when a person sees worse, they look with their eyes closed, which tightens the muscles and causes tension headaches.
On the other hand, it was observed that if children participated in non-formal education even during quarantine, albeit remotely, their mental and physical health was better. Therefore, it is necessary to involve children in further education, various circles. It is a protective factor against physical and emotional health disorders.
Photo from 123RF.com/Child with tablet
The sad statistic is that there has been an increase in eating disorders in children during their quarantine. Although in many cases children are obese, doctors also face the opposite phenomenon: dangerous weight loss due to anorexia or bulimia.
“I think it is related to increased stress when you cannot control the situation. You cannot control the spread of the virus, but you can control your diet and weight. As a result, some adolescents played sports very actively, ate healthy foods, followed their weight, but found themselves in hospitals with catastrophic body mass indexes, some lacking up to 3 kg, ”said R. Praninskienė.
Thus, the study reaffirmed the long-known truth that prolonged and constant stress always has a negative effect on psychosomatics. Usually the area of the body that has been weakened before is affected. Distance learning has been a stressor for children in many cases.
The children began to become obese.
Pediatric gastroenterologist at Santara clinics dr. Vaidotas Urbonas, citing a colleague, he said he is dealing with young patients who already have liver inflammation due to obesity. And that’s one of the reasons you should have a liver transplant.
“Obesity rates have risen a little to 6% before the pandemic. Obese children, and now 8 percent. In absolute numbers, that’s a lot. And most importantly, in childhood obesity, there is a very high probability that the weight will not return to normal.
Unfortunately, I am already faced with situations where an 11-year-old boy is brought to me due to an enlarged abdomen. The family fears the absence of the tumor. Actually, the abdomen is enlarged, but not because of the tumor, but because of a very thick layer of subcutaneous fat. In 3 months, the child gained 8 kg. Regarding its weight, it is the same as an adult who gains 20 kg.
Photo from the personal archive Vaidotas Urbonas
Obesity is, in a sense, a bigger problem than COVID-19. Calculating how much money the state has to spend to treat obese people for complications is a very costly disease. And, as I mentioned, it is spread among children because the quarantine made their lifestyle much more sedentary, the daily routine was disrupted, they began to eat more junk food.
Obesity in childhood is very likely to prevent weight from returning to normal.
Children do not know and do not feel that weight gain is detrimental to health, because obesity-related diseases (cardiovascular, metabolic) occur at an older age. Therefore, it is the duty of parents to monitor their children ”, the doctor is convinced.
According to him, during the quarantine, the risk of obesity or other health problems increased especially for those children who were already at risk, say, were prone to obesity, occasionally complaining of abdominal pain. Everything got a lot worse during the pandemic.
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