TY - JOUR T1 - COVID-19 and the unseen pandemic of child abuse JF - BMJ Paediatrics Open JO - BMJ Paediatrics Open DO - 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001553 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - e001553 AU - Wesley J Park AU - Kristen A Walsh Y1 - 2022/09/01 UR - http://bmjpaedsopen.bmj.com/content/6/1/e001553.abstract N2 - For children, the collateral damage of the COVID-19 pandemic response has been considerable: ‘nearly insurmountable’ educational losses,1 deteriorating mental health,2 low routine childhood vaccination rates,3 39 billion missed school meals by January 20214 and millions of estimated life-years lost among students in the USA alone.5 It is difficult to deny the harmful impact of lockdowns on children, who are society’s most vulnerable members. In this paper, we use the framework of evidence-based medicine to argue that child abuse is another negative side effect of COVID-19 lockdowns.One of us serves as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Early Childhood Champion for the State of New Jersey, and we firmly stand by the AAP’s initial goal of having every student physically present in school during the pandemic.6 Yet, the potential reduction of COVID-19 transmission has been cited as justification for lockdowns, an intensive package of non-pharmaceutical interventions which include the prolonged use of general population restrictions and school closures.7 While it was certain that school closures would have profound social and economic costs, it remains uncertain whether they have any effect on COVID-19 transmission.8 One such cost is the negative effects on the detection, reporting and prevention of child abuse. Meanwhile, Sweden, which notably did not close primary schools, has emerged from the pandemic with one of the lowest overall excess mortality rates in Western Europe and finds no evidence of learning loss.9 10There is emerging evidence that lockdowns significantly worsened child abuse on a … ER -