Not Depression, Not Anxiety: Scientists Say This Gen Alpha Epidemic Is Worse Than Ever Before

You might say Generation Alpha was dealt a bad hand. Raised in an age of reliance on computers and decreasing real-life interactions, those born between 2010 and 2025 are often called the "iPad generation." And COVID-19 only made the world's reliance on devices worse. As a result, generations of young adults are in the midst of a "loneliness epidemic," and they're aging faster than their parents to boot. But for Gen Alpha, all that time spent sitting online has contributed to another epidemic: childhood obesity. According to a 2026 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity rates in the United States are higher than ever recorded.

At the time of the survey, 21.1% of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 19 met the criteria for obesity, an age range that roughly overlaps with Generation Alpha. That number was nearly 2-point up from the 2017–2018 study, which recorded a childhood obesity rate of 19.3%. A 1.8% rise over fewer than ten years may not seem like a lot, but considering there are around 72 million children in the United States, that rise equates to an additional 1.3 million children suffering from obesity compared to the previous generation.

Of course, there are other factors behind this spike in childhood obesity. Many experts believe sedentary lifestyles, exacerbated by the pandemic, are the primary driver, but they also point to the role of ultra-processed foods, large portion sizes, and the rise in cost-of-living. In the United States, childhood obesity is more prevalent in low-income communities, where healthy food options are too expensive or simply unavailable.

The past decade's sharp spike in childhood obesity tracks closely with the timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have shown that obesity's growth rate roughly doubled following the COVID-19 lockdowns regardless of age. Thus, children weren't the only ones getting fatter. Every age group was affected by the sudden quarantining measures. It appears social distancing drove people indoors and into the static embrace of their digital environments.

Yet, while just about everyone put on a few extra pounds during the pandemic, the rise in obesity hit Gen Alpha the hardest. Between the ages of 0 and 10, these children entered the pandemic during a critical developmental phase of their lives, one in which diet plays a powerful role in their metabolism and dietary habits. Faced with financial insecurity and a global pandemic, many parents turned to take-out and fast-food delivery, which served as a cheap, easy, and, perhaps most importantly, comforting meal. Within the ensuing uncertain months, food as comfort became imprinted into the impressionable minds of many Gen Alphas.

Consequently, stress-induced eating may play a large role in the childhood obesity spike. Cortisol, the "stress hormone," increases the appetite and may even increase cravings for fatty foods. Mental illnesses have also risen in the pandemic's wake, including an increase in ADHD diagnoses among Gen Z, which has been linked, albeit indirectly, to the pandemic, as well. It appears the stress of the pandemic affected the minds of many, helping to create a culture of unhealthy dietary choices.

While a lack of movement and stress-induced eating are the strongest cultural drivers of Gen Alpha's childhood-obesity "epidemic," it must be remembered that the COVID-19 pandemic was also an economic event. Within the first few months of 2020, many Americans were either laid off, furloughed, or forced into low-paying online jobs. Combined with the COVID-19 recession, which reduced the dollar's buying power, many Americans were simply too broke to feed their Gen Alpha children high-quality food. Expensive, inaccessible fresh foods were supplanted with cheap, ultra-processed foods, which use extra fats and salts to mask their lack of complex, flavorful nutrition.

Today, ultra-processed foods comprise roughly 50% of the average American's diet, and they may be contributing to the rise in colorectal cancers among young adults in addition to the rise of childhood obesity. Among children, ultra-processed foods have been shown to increase obesity and cardiovascular disease. Sitting in front of a screen all day without exercising is clearly a quick way to gain weight, but what you fuel your body with matters, too.