Impact of COVID-19 on children’s physical development

The Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) has published a report reviewing existing research on the impact of the pandemic on children’s physical development in the early years (age 0–5). As UK research in this area is relatively scarce, many of the findings are taken from studies in other countries, and thus reflect a variety of national situations and responses. Overall, the evidence has shown that the physical development of children is likely to have been negatively impacted by the pandemic across a number of areas critical to early physical development, including decreases in physical activity and increases in sedentary behaviour (such as screen time), changes in diet (increases in processed foods, sweets and salty snacks) and increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.