504 - Changes in metabolic health at a community hospital-based pediatric clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic

Poster Number: 504
Publication Number: 504.238

Ishita Kharode, Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, NY, United States; Xu Xu, Richmond university medical center, Staten Island, NY, United States; Nicole L. Lorenzetti, City University of New York, New York, NY, United States

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures have considerably altered dietary and lifestyle habits for children and adolescents across the United States. Many families have also experienced financial hardship and increased food insecurity during this time. This has led to concerns regarding effects on pediatric obesity and metabolic health, especially given the increased prevalence of pediatric obesity over the past few decades.

Objective: To assess changes in metabolic health measures in pediatric patients at a community hospital-based pediatric clinic in New York City before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients aged 2 to 17 years seen for well visits at our clinic. Independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare mean body mass index (BMI) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels respectively across three time periods: November 2019, March 2020, and November 2020. Data from November 2019 were included as a control, prior to the enactment of lockdown measures in New York City in March 2020. Several exploratory analyses were also conducted on data stratified by demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, and primary language.

Results: Data from 290 patients were included in our analysis; all patients had BMI measured, and 60 patients had HbA1c levels taken (Table 1). There was no significant difference in mean BMI across time periods. However, mean HbA1c increased significantly between March 2020 and November 2020 (p=0.022), having decreased in the months prior to pandemic onset. Confirmatory analysis revealed that for patients who identified as Hispanic or Latino, mean BMI increased significantly from 17.9% kg/m2 in March 2020 to 20.8 kg/m2 in November 2020 (p=0.021). Additionally, while patients under age 12 experienced a significant increase in mean HbA1c between March 2020 and November 2020 (p=0.022), patients above age 12 did not. Other exploratory analyses did not yield any significant differences between demographic groups.Conclusion(s): There was a significant increase in mean HbA1c in pediatric clinic patients after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to prior, specifically in patients under age 12. Furthermore, patients who identified as Hispanic or Latino experienced a significant increase in BMI after pandemic onset, though this finding was not preserved in our study population as a whole. Additional research is needed to examine why these different populations experienced different metabolic health outcomes during this time.
Table 1. Demographic and descriptive statistics of study sample.