Physical and psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on children

Objectives: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection has affected the lives of all strata of society since its beginning. To control the spread of the disease, a lockdown was imposed. During this time, there was a substantial increase in the usage of gadgets and reduction in outdoor activities because of online studies that resulted in serious the mental health issues, especially in the paediatric population. Material and Methods: To study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on screen time, playtime and behaviour of the students, the study was conducted on 153 subjects of 4–18 years age group attending the outpatient department, over a period of 3 months. A questionnaire format of ten questions was framed that was asked from the children or from their parents/guardians. This study included questions such as time spent on online classes, self-study or study with parents and gadgets used for the online classes. Results: Most of the children were students of classes upper kinder garden and I, comprising 19.0% and 18.3%, respectively. Females outnumbered males in the study. Weight gain was observed in 43.8%, and signs of irritability were observed in 68.0% of the children. Weight gain showed a statistically significant correlation with the duration of online classes, indoor and outdoor playtime with p-values of 0.044, <0.005 and 0.005, respectively. There was also a statistically significant correlation between change in behaviour with outdoor playtime and sleep timings with p < 0.005 and 0.019, respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that there was a significant increase in screen time and a decrease in outdoor play activities during the time of COVID-19 pandemic with a statistically significant correlation with the weight gain and change in behaviour of the children.