The coronavirus lockdowns are making childhood obesity worse, according to a recent study. Researchers found that children in Italy ate more junk food and watched more TV during COVID-19 social distancing measures. They also cut down on physical activity which helped pack on the pounds.

"The tragic COVID-19 pandemic has collateral effects extending beyond viral infection," said professor Myles Faith, a childhood obesity expert at University of Buffalo and co-author of the study, which was published in the journal Obesity.

According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, children and adolescents typically gain more weight during summer holidays than during the school year. The authors of the study explained school environments provide structure and routine around mealtimes and physical activity. Children with too much free time during vacations or lockdowns, exercise less and eat more. The study revealed, according to the Daily Mail, the obese children they followed dramatically increased their consumption of red meat, sugary drinks, and junk food. 

According to MSN, the researchers, who were from Louisiana State University Pennington Research Center and the University of Verona in Italy, found the 41 overweight children they studied ate an extra meal each day, slept for an extra half hour daily and spent nearly five hours more in front of a screen each day while decreasing their physical activity by more than two hours weekly during lockdown compared to data collected on the same participants last year. 

"Children and teens struggling with obesity are placed in an unfortunate position of isolation that appears to create an unfavorable environment for maintaining heathy lifestyle behaviors," said Faith, according to MSN, who added that the excess weight gained during lockdown might not be reversible and might contribute to adult obesity.