Childhood Obesity in Ridgewood
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By BILLY WOOD
RIDGEWOOD, NY- New York City became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been over two years since the start of the pandemic and there has been a total of over 67,000 deaths in the city. Even after all of the lives lost the after effects are still being felt today especially with the youth.
In the Ridgewood area of Queens 19% of children are obese and the cases are on the rise. While this has been a concern prior to the pandemic the number of childhood obesity cases have nearly doubled.
“Kids have gained over the last two years of COVID up to 20 or 30 pounds,” said Valerie Sauve FNP-BC. She has been the pediatrician of the neighborhood for the last couple of years.
“The hemoglobin A1C levels, because if they had COVID, what it did was it whacked the kidneys a bit,” she said. “So it lowered the vitamin D levels, which then caused rise in the hemoglobin A1C levels.” This effects diabetes and there are a lot of 10-year-olds that are pre-diabetic or even with type two diabetes now.
While COVID has definitely left its mark on people. The mental aspect has also led children to gaining weight. “My daughter just started eating non-stop during the pandemic,” said Paulina Muñoz a concerned mother.
Munoz admits that her daughters anxiety levels were really high as were a lot of people because of the uncertainty of what was to happen next. “I didn’t know how to deal with being home all the time, so I just ate,” said Kheyle a 13-year old. “I would be on Zoom eating while I was in class something that I couldn’t do when I would be there in person.”
As restrictions have been lifted and Ridgewood is slowly getting back to normalcy there are still some factors for the children in the neighborhood. One issue continues to be the mentally.
“It’s almost like Stockholm Syndrome. It’s Like everyone’s having adjustment disorder now,” said Sauve FNP-BC. While children are having a hard time adjusting mentally there is also the issue with youth programs in the area not yet being fully available for them.
“We closed down during the pandemic and are slowly starting to open up,” said Joseph Reyes of the Ridgewood YMCA. “There are no youth programs at this time. We only have for early childhood and senior programs.”
The Ridgewood YMCA had served more than 8,000 locals prior to the pandemic. From that number 2,519 were children. In 2021, they only served 3,000 people. It has been a slow start up for the YMCA to allow children to engage in physical activities such as sports.
As youth programs are slowly catching up to speed due to safety precautions there are some apps that the children can use on their phones. “One of ’em it’s called Splits Training app. There’s a couple different versions of the same kind of app,” said Sauve FNP-BC.
Some children have anxiety issues about going back to public places post pandemic these apps can help them get into shape from the comfort of their own home.
“My daughter has been doing much better since she was allowed to go back to school in person,” said Muñoz. “She has been able to control her eating and she is slowly getting back to her normal weight.”
There is still work to be done, but with the right mental attitude, eating, and exercising childhood obesity can be reduced in the neighborhood of Ridgewood.
