IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT’S PATTERNS & LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORS

Background: Covid-19 pandemic has influenced all ages and both genders. The Major impact observed was our life of children and adolescent in terms of social isolation. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on life style patterns and behaviors of children and adolescents. Material and Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College, Lahore from April to September 2021. The study included 323 parents of children and adolescent (4-18) all over Pakistan through convenience sampling. Data was collected on an online google survey form. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 23. Bivariate analysis was conducted to compare the difference in lifestyles and behavioral change between children and adolescent during Covid-19, in Pakistan considering p-value less than 0.05 as significant. Results: In a total of 323 children and adolescents, 189 (58.5%) were males and 134 (41.5%) were females. The mean age of children and adolescents was 11.2 ± 4.2 years. A significant association with consumption of fast food per week(p=0.031), fear of getting COVID-19 (p =0.041), feeling anxious due to pandemic (p=0.040) was found in behavior related to adolescent’s lifestyle changes as compared to children. Also, a significant association was found in involvement in indoor physical activities per week(p=0.045) and using social media more than 7 hours per day (p= 0.042) in children’s lifestyle as compared with adolescents. Conclusions: Significant difference was observed in lifestyle behaviors of adolescents with regard to their eating habits, fear of getting covid, anxious behavior due to Covid-19 pandemic whereas significant difference was observed in lifestyle behaviors of children with regard to use of social media and indoor physical activities.