Role of Structured Days on Weight Gain

Summer vacation is a 3-month window of vulnerability for children from low-income households when health behaviors and academic learning decay. The goal of this project is to collect information on where low-income children go during summer, what they do when they get there, and how their behaviors (physical activity, sedentary, sleep, and diet) differ between the summer (unstructured days) and school year (structured days). This study is 1) significant because it will provide evidence on potential points of intervention that can reduce or reverse the excessive unhealthy weight gains that occur during summer and 2) innovative because it will be the first to identify changes in activity, sedentary, sleep, and dietary behaviors during prolonged and shorter periodic breaks from school and link these behaviors to changes in zBMI over time.