Louisiana has the sixth highest rate of childhood obesity in the country, according to new data that is stroking fears that children participating in virtual learning this school year will only make those numbers worse.

Louisiana’s rate is 20.1 percent for children between the ages 10 to 17 — well above the national average of 15.5 percent.

Even before Hurricanes Laura and Delta delayed our local schools from opening, children were already on lockdowns implemented earlier this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those two factors combined are expected to negatively impact diet, sleep and physical activity among children with obesity.

A recent study by Dr. Steven Heymsfield, professor at the LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and Dr. Angelo Pietrobelli, professor at the University of Verona in Italy, seems to confirm this.

Heymsfield and Pietrobelli examined 41 overweight children under a two-month confinement in Verona, Italy, earlier this year. Compared to behaviors recorded a year prior, the children ate an additional meal per day; slept an extra half hour per day; added nearly five hours per day in front of phone, computer and television screens; and dramatically increased their consumption of red meat, sugary drinks and junk foods.

Physical activity, on the other hand, decreased by more than two hours per week, and the amount of vegetables consumed remained unchanged.

Children and teens struggling with obesity are now being placed in an unfortunate position of isolation that appears to create an unfavorable environment for maintaining healthy lifestyle. Obese children have a higher risk of chronic health conditions, such as asthma, sleep apnea, bone and joint problems, Type 2 diabetes and risk factors for heart disease.

For the millions of American schoolchildren learning from home this school year, their “classroom” offers no recess, which has the potential to exacerbate this public health crisis.

“It’s unprecedented that we’re inside, we’re out of normal routines. So it stands to reason that levels of inactivity are only going to worsen,” Cedric Bryant, president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, told The Washington Post.

The ambition for a healthier nation, during and beyond COVID-19, is to be praised. But no challenge is more urgent than protecting the health and safety of our children.

The results of doing so can last a lifetime.

All children deserve a healthy start in life; it’s our responsibility to make that possible.

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This editorial was written by a member of the American Press Editorial Board. Its content reflects the collaborative opinion of the Board, whose members include Crystal Stevenson, John Guidroz, Mike Jones and Jim Beam.