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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #375433
Research Project: Preventing the Development of Childhood Obesity

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Keeping kids active: Summertime interventions to address physical activity

Author
item HARTWIG, ELIZABETH - Loyola University
item BOHNERT, AMY - Loyola University
item MORENO, JENNETTE - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item HARDIN, ALLIE - University Of Texas

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2019
Publication Date: 4/1/2020
Citation: Hartwig, E.M., Bohnert, A.M., Moreno, J.P., Hardin, A. 2020. Keeping kids active: Summertime interventions to address physical activity. In: Brusseau, T.A., Fairclough, S.J., Lubans, D.R., editors. The Routledge Handbook of Youth Physical Activity. 1st edition. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 649-664.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Obesity has reached unprecedented levels among children and adolescents in developed countries across the globe, with recent estimates of 23.8% of boys and 22.6% of girls being overweight or obese. Until recently, the contribution of youth's out-of-school time, including summertime, had largely been overlooked. However, several large-scale longitudinal studies provide convincing evidence that youth gain more weight during the summer break from school. Decreased physical activity (PA) and increased sedentary time are postulated to be important contributing factors. Four key inter-related contextual factors contributing to decreases in PA were identified: climate and weather, degree of structure, family socioeconomic status, and safety. Interventions have focused on promoting changes in PA at both the (1) individual level, through offering more structured opportunities to engage in PA, specifically, through summer day camps (SDCs) and at the (2) community level, by encouraging PA opportunities more broadly through the use of marketing, improved access, and engagement of community partners. Overall, SDCs appeared to an effective method of increasing PA and improving fitness in children while they were at camp; however, improvements in weight related outcomes were less common.