Children’s Weight Gain and Cardiovascular Fitness Loss over the Summer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of summer breaks on the body composition and cardiovascular fitness of elementary school children who participated in a multi-year school-based physical activity intervention. Participants were 404 children who had their height and weight measured and completed the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) during physical education classes at the beginning and end of the school year for three consecutive years. To examine the effects of time on health-related fitness data, general linear mixed effects models were employed. The results indicate that there was a trend toward an increase in body mass index (BMI) after the summer of 2015 (p = 0.958), and a significant increase in BMI after the summer of 2016 compared to time point 1 (p < 0.001). For PACER laps, there were trends toward decreases in PACER laps after the summers of 2015 (p = 0.515) and 2016 (p = 0.073). Summer breaks tended to attenuate the BMI and PACER lap improvements that were observed during the intervention. While school-based physical activity programming has had some successes in improving health-related fitness markers, the loss of these improvements over the summer is of concern to both practitioners and researchers. It is clear that additional efforts are needed to limit obesogenic behaviors during the summer months.

Impact of Year-Round and Traditional School Schedules on Summer Weight Gain and Fitness Loss

“…6 Recently, two studies have highlighted a concern that the improvements in weight status and aerobic fitness garnered during a school physical activity intervention were lost during the 12-week summer break. 7,8 Weaver et al 9 have suggested that one of the reasons that we have struggled to address childhood obesity is that we have primarily focused on school programming and neglected the 3-month summer break during which children are not in school. In fact, Brazendale et al 10 suggest that these changes in weight status and fitness over the summer could be attributed to the structured day hypothesis.…”

Effects of a Summer Physical Activity Program on Fitness and Cognitive Function among Children from Low Socioeconomic Households

“…This is a valid and reliable test that has been used previously to assess cardiovascular fitness in children (Leger & Lambert, 1982 ; Meredith & Welk, 2013 ). Further, previous studies have used the PACER to assess cardiorespiratory fitness in children during the summer months (Brusseau & Burns, 2018 ). It is a feasible test when aiming to analyze large cohorts in a short amount of time as many children can participate at once.…”

Children’s Health, Wellbeing and Academic Outcomes over the Summer Holidays: A Scoping Review

“…Of the studies measuring adiposity, 84% (21/25) found an increase over the summer [ 9 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 37 , 43 , 45 , 47 , 49 , 52 , 54 , 61 , 64 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 85 , 86 , 93 , 96 , 99 , 100 , 101 ]. Two studies (8%, 2/25) displayed mixed results [ 26 , 95 ] and two more showed a decrease in adiposity over the summer [ 39 , 104 ] ( Figure 3 ).…”

“…Where data were available, comparisons were made between the rates of change in the summertime compared to the rest of the school year. The pattern remained: Of the 22 studies that measured changes in adiposity across both the summer and school periods, 14 studies (64%) found comparatively greater rates of weight gain over the summer [ 9 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 43 , 47 , 54 , 64 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 85 , 92 , 93 , 96 , 99 , 100 , 101 ], seven (32%) found no difference [ 26 , 31 , 45 , 52 , 61 , 86 , 104 ] and one (4%) found smaller rates of gain [ 39 ]. Regarding CVF, the results were split between declines and mixed results, with five studies (45%) each showing declines [ 26 , 31 , 49 , 52 , 80 ] or mixed/neutral results [ 17 , 32 , 37 , 81 , 86 , 93 ] and only one study demonstrating an improvement [ 43 ].…”