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Health & Fitness

Keeping our Kids Fit: The Health Benefits of Summer Learning

By Joseph LMahoney, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, School of Education

While summer is a time for many students to unwind from their hard work during the school year, studies show that summer can be harmful to children’s health. Without physical activity from PE classes or nutrition from school meal programs, children often resort to TV and videogames and eat junk food or skip meals. The research study I led at UC Irvine found that low-income children are more likely to fall into these unhealthy habits due to a lack of opportunity to participate in organized activities such as summer sports.

Without access to summer learning activities, students may gain two to three times as much weight during the summer than during the school year.  Our research also documented the significant risks that summertime poses for low-income students due to the triple threat of increased sedentary time, opportunities to overeat and exposure to unhealthy food. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in three children and adolescents is overweight or obese. The healthy habits learned during the school year often are forgotten during the summer months. And the habits children learn at a young age are difficult to break; as many as 75% of overweight adolescents become overweight or obese adults. Overweight children thus become vulnerable to a wide array of health problems that will dramatically decrease their quality of life. While summer learning has increasingly become a priority for school districts across the country, most people remain unaware of the health consequences of inactivity during the summer. 

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As part of a nationwide effort to prevent summer learning loss, school districts are wisely committing an increasing share of their budgets to providing equal access to high-quality summer learning programs. They offer a great opportunity for children to learn while having fun, with nutritious meals and health and wellness education blended into engaging projects and activities.

In addition to the summer learning activities taking place in schools, there are also community-based organizations across California that are partnering in new and innovative ways – and opening their doors to students and their families – to make sure summer matters. This summer, the California Summer Meal Coalition and California Library Association jointly launched Summer Lunch at the Library to combat summer learning loss and summer hunger. In Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego counties’ libraries are offering free, healthy lunches along with summer reading programs for children and teens.

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Summertime is an untapped resource; when students are free from homework and other stresses associated with the school year, they are free to learn new things and participate in activities they don’t usually have time for, which could and should include health and wellness education. Parents, government agencies, community organizations, businesses, and school districts must join the effort to expand access to summer learning in order to prevent America’s children from falling into the vicious cycle of obesity. Every child deserves access to summer learning opportunities that support year-round learning and well-being.  Learn more at  summermatters2you.net.

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