The impact of summer vacation on children's obesogenic behaviors and body mass index: a natural experiment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Children's BMI gain accelerates during summer. The Structured Days Hypothesis posits that the lack of the school day during summer vacation negatively impacts children's obesogenic behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, diet, sleep). This natural experiment examined the impact of summer vacation on children's obesogenic behaviors and body mass index (BMI).

Methods

Elementary-aged children (n = 285, 5-12 years, 48.7% male, 57.4% African American) attending a year-round (n = 97) and two match-paired traditional schools (n = 188) in the United States participated in this study. Rather than taking a long break from school during the summer like traditional schools, year-round schools take shorter and more frequent breaks from school. This difference in schoo

SUBMITTER: Weaver RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7690133 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature