COVID-19-RelatedWeight Gain in School-Aged Children

This letter describes a proposed method to prevent children from gaining weight during not attending school due to COVID-19. The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) ismakingconsiderable mortalityand morbidity, putting pressure on health care systems, winding down the economy, and increasing school absenteeism. While lowering its immediate impact is a priority, I want to focus on a long-term impact on the health of children. By not attending school and staying at home, COVID-19 may lead to a stepped-up children’s obesity epidemic and increases obesity disorders. The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented students from attending school, forcing them to stay athomeinmanyparts of Iran. The school system is not expected to return to normal this school year. Experiences gained in the Middle East countries such as Iran indicate that the observance of social distancing if canceled after a short time, mustbe periodically re-established its orders to control the prevalence of COVID-19 (1, 2). In summary, the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran is expected to intensify dramatically this yearandincrease school absenteeism, which will make worse the risk factors for weight gain related to summer vacations.