IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v15y2018i12p2770-d188631.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy A. Brusseau

    (Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA)

  • Ryan D. Burns

    (Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Recreation, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy A. Brusseau & Ryan D. Burns, 2018. "Children’s Weight Gain and Cardiovascular Fitness Loss over the Summer," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-8, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:12:p:2770-:d:188631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2770/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2770/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Von Hippel, P.T. & Powell, B. & Downey, D.B. & Rowland, N.J., 2007. "The effect of school on overweight in childhood: Gain in body mass index during the school year and during summer vacation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 97(4), pages 696-702.
    2. Sallis, J.F. & McKenzie, T.L. & Alcaraz, J.E. & Kolody, B. & Faucette, N. & Hovell, M.F., 1997. "The effects of a 2-year physical education program (SPARK) on physical activity and fitness in elementary school students," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(8), pages 1328-1334.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chiaki Tanaka & John J. Reilly & Maki Tanaka & Shigeho Tanaka, 2018. "Changes in Weight, Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity during the School Year and Summer Vacation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-19, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hunt, Ethan T. & Whitfield, Michelle L. & Brazendale, Keith & Beets, Michael W. & Weaver, R. Glenn, 2019. "Examining the impact of a summer learning program on children’s weight status and cardiorespiratory fitness: A natural experiment," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 84-90.
    2. Laura C. Leviton, 2008. "Children's Healthy Weight and the School Environment," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 615(1), pages 38-55, January.
    3. Ethan T. Hunt & Bridget Armstrong & Brie M. Turner-McGrievy & Michael W. Beets & Robert G. Weaver, 2021. "Differences by School Location in Summer and School Monthly Weight Change: Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-12, November.
    4. Sara M. St. George & Mariya Petrova & Tae Kyoung Lee & Krystal M. Sardinas & Marissa A. Kobayashi & Sarah E. Messiah & Guillermo Prado, 2018. "Predictors of Participant Attendance Patterns in a Family-Based Intervention for Overweight and Obese Hispanic Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, July.
    5. Daniel L. Millimet & Rusty Tchernis & Muna Husain, 2010. "School Nutrition Programs and the Incidence of Childhood Obesity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    6. Anne L. Escaron & Corina Martinez & Monica Lara & Celia Vega-Herrera & Denise Rios & Marielena Lara & Michael Hochman, 2020. "Program Evaluation of Environmental and Policy Approaches to Physical Activity Promotion in a Lower Income Latinx School District in Southeast Los Angeles," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-13, November.
    7. Levasseur, Pierre, 2022. "School starting age and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from Brazil," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    8. Andrew James Williams & Katrina M Wyatt & Craig A Williams & Stuart Logan & William E Henley, 2015. "Exploring the Potential of a School Impact on Pupil Weight Status: Exploratory Factor Analysis and Repeat Cross-Sectional Study of the National Child Measurement Programme," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    9. Chang, Chaeyoung & Jung, Haeil, 2017. "The role of formal schooling on weight in young children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1-12.
    10. D'Agostino, Emily M. & Patel, Hersila H. & Ahmed, Zafar & Hansen, Eric & Sunil Mathew, M. & Nardi, Maria I. & Messiah, Sarah E., 2018. "Impact of change in neighborhood racial/ethnic segregation on cardiovascular health in minority youth attending a park-based afterschool program," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 116-129.
    11. Patricia C Cheung & Padra A Franks & Michael R Kramer & Christi M Kay & Carolyn D Drews-Botsch & Jean A Welsh & Julie A Gazmararian, 2019. "Elementary school physical activity opportunities and physical fitness of students: A statewide cross-sectional study of schools," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.
    12. Seungho Ryu & Paul Loprinzi & Heontae Kim & Minsoo Kang, 2020. "Temporal Trends in the Association between Participation in Physical Education and Physical Activity among U.S. High School Students, 2011–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-10, March.
    13. Wendt, Minh, 2008. "Economic, Environmental, and Endowment Effects on Childhood Obesity," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6571, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    14. Jo, Young, 2014. "What money can buy: Family income and childhood obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-12.
    15. Rachana Bhatt, 2014. "Timing is Everything: The Impact of School Lunch Length on Children's Body Weight," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(3), pages 656-676, January.
    16. Anderson, Patricia M. & Butcher, Kristin F. & Cascio, Elizabeth U. & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2011. "Is being in school better? The impact of school on children's BMI when starting age is endogenous," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 977-986.
    17. von Klinggraeff, Lauren & Dugger, Roddrick & Brazendale, Keith & Hunt, Ethan T. & Moore, Justin B. & Turner-McGrievy, Gabrielle & Vogler, Kenneth & Beets, Michael W. & Armstrong, Bridget & Weaver, R. , 2022. "Healthy Summer Learners: An explanatory mixed methods study and process evaluation," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    18. Gopalan, Maithreyi & Lombardi, Caitlin McPherran & Bullinger, Lindsey Rose, 2022. "Effects of parental public health insurance eligibility on parent and child health outcomes," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    19. Rebecca Miles & Yuxia Wang & Suzanne Bennett Johnson, 2018. "Neighborhood Built and Social Environments and Change in Weight Status over the Summer in Low-Income Elementary School Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-13, May.
    20. Manan Roy & Daniel Millimet & Rusty Tchernis, 2012. "Federal nutrition programs and childhood obesity: inside the black box," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-38, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:12:p:2770-:d:188631. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.