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A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals concerning trends in childhood health across Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, which surveyed over 50,000 children aged 7-9 in 17 countries from 2021-2023, found alarming increases in screen time, unhealthy eating, and declines in physical activity and wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report showed that 36% of children increased their weekday screen time watching TV, gaming, or using social media, while 34% had more recreational screen time on weekends. Meanwhile, 28% experienced a decrease in outdoor playtime on weekdays, and 42% reported declining happiness and wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We cannot afford to ignore these trends,” warned Dr. Kremlin Wickramasinghe, WHO\/Europe’s regional advisor for nutrition, physical activity and obesity. “In our region, one in three children is living with overweight and obesity, and already fruit and vegetable consumption is low.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To address these issues, the WHO is calling on countries to implement measures like marketing restrictions, taxes on unhealthy products, clear nutrition labels, and school-based programs to promote healthy eating and physical activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agency said the new data \u201ccan be used to inform and improve current policies across the region and shape much-needed plans for future emergencies and pandemics that may lead to interruption of educational processes or school closures\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals concerning trends in childhood health across Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, which surveyed over 50,000 children aged 7-9 in 17 countries from 2021-2023, found alarming increases in screen time, unhealthy eating, and declines in physical activity and wellbeing. The report showed that 36% …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":104454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[7862,7861,7863],"class_list":["post-104453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-childhood-obesity","tag-pandemic-results","tag-unhealthy-habits"],"yoast_head":"\n