Longitudinal changes in juvenile and adolescent body mass indices before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand.

OBJECTIVE: This study uses longitudinal data from school children in Dunedin, New Zealand, to evaluate impacts of COVID-19 lockdown measures on changes in body mass (BMI, kg/m2 ). Impacts are assessed using two non-mutually exclusive hypotheses. The "structured days" hypothesis holds that children tend to alter sleep patterns, reduce activity and increase snacking when not in structured environments. The bidirectional hypothesis proposes that over-weight or obese children are predisposed to further gains in unstructured settings. METHODS: Juveniles and adolescents (n = 95, 60% female) were recruited from Dunedin schools. Repeated measures analyses assessed variation in intra-individual change in BMI during four periods: P1 (before summer break), P2 (during summer break), P3 (during the COVID-19 lockdown), and P4 (after the lockdown ended). The model also examined if these changes were influenced by participants' sex or body size early in the first period assessed using log-transformed BMI, log-transformed weight, height, or lower leg length. RESULTS: Repeated measures analyses of per month gains in BMI (kg/m2 ) during the four periods revealed consistent period (p ≤ .001), period by sex (p ≤ .010), and period by body size (p ≤ .001) interactions across all four body size proxies. Both sexes experienced the greatest gains during the lockdown (P3), but differed in response to their summer break (P2). CONCLUSION: Results are mostly consistent with the "structured days" hypothesis, but challenge the bidirectional hypothesis as defined. Further research better characterizing risks of gains in adiposity are needed.

The Ashley Treatment: furthering the anthropology of/on disability.

Questions regarding access to and the use of medical and surgical treatment for people with disabilities revisit themes central to medical anthropology. The "Ashley Treatment" is named after a nine-year-old girl, Ashley, who has extreme physical and cognitive disabilities. The Treatment refers to extensive medical and surgical procedures that are claimed to improve quality of life and prevent future medical problems. The Treatment has stimulated lively public debate on disability, medicalization, and caregiving. We illustrate how the Ashley Treatment emphasizes the importance of medical anthropological research on the construction of personhood and childhood disability, agency and autonomy, and the rights of representation and control, as well as the ethics of invasive procedures, hormone therapy, and body modification surgery.