ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2020
The impact of summer programming on the obesogenic behaviors of children: behavioral outcomes from a quasi-experimental pilot trial.
Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03321071 (Interventions to Promote Healthy Lifestyle and Academic Performance in Children During the Summer Months.), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Interventions to Promote Healthy Lifestyle and Academic Performance in Children During the Summer Months.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for the prevention of weight gain during festive and holiday periods in children and adults: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Health effects of children's summer holiday programs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Pooled it
- Examining adolescents' obesogenic behaviors on structured days: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of free summer day camp on physical activity behaviors and screentime of elementary-age children from low-income households: a randomized clinical trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- Free summer programming on elementary-aged children's food and beverage consumption: a randomized clinical trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2025Trial
- The Cost Effectiveness of a Free Summer Day Camp Voucher Program to Prevent Summer Weight Gain Among Children From Disadvantaged Households.American journal of preventive medicine · 2025Trial
- Changes in fitness and fatness in Australian schoolchildren during the summer holidays: fitness lost, fatness regained? A cohort study.BMC public health · 2023Trial
- Examining differences in parent-reported screen time from school to summer in children: an observational cohort study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- "I feel better as a parent" - summer programs help support children's health behaviors and parent wellbeing.Research square · 2026Article
- Differences in children's food and beverage consumption between school and summer: three-year findings from the what's UP (Undermining Prevention) with summer observational cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Protocol for a randomized controlled dose response trial to combat accelerated summer BMI gain in children: The Determining the Optimal amount of Structured Environments (DOSE) study.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Article
- Family and Home Environment Predictors of Children's 24-Hour Movement Guideline Adherence: A Mixed-Methods Study.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2025Article
- Article
- Physical Activity and Sedentary Time Among U.S. Adolescents Before and During COVID-19: Findings From a Large Cohort Study.AJPM focus · 2024Article
- Preliminary Effectiveness of a One-Week Summer Day Camp for Improving Children's Health Behaviors and Psychosocial Well-Being Outcomes.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Differences in elementary-age children's accelerometer - measured physical activity between school and summer: three-year findings from the What's UP (Undermining Prevention) with summer observational cohort study.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Observational
- Effect of Summer Holiday Programs on Children's Mental Health and Well-Being: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Children's activity and diet behaviours in the summer holidays versus school year.Pediatric obesity · 2023Article
- Healthy Summer Learners: An explanatory mixed methods study and process evaluation.Evaluation and program planning · 2022Article
- Decreased Physical Activity Among Youth Resulting From COVID-19 Pandemic-Related School Closures: Natural Experimental Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChildren from low-income families experience accelerated BMI gain and learning loss during summer. Healthy Summer Learners (HSL) addresses accelerated BMI gain and academic learning loss during summer by providing academic- and health-focused programming. This manuscript reports the effects of HSL on underlying obesogenic behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, sleep, diet) that lead to accelerated summer BMI gain, a necessary first step to informing a future randomized controlled trial of HSL.
methodsIn the summer of 2018 and 2019 using a quasi-experimental study design, 180 children (90 per summer, 7.9 years [SD = 1.0], 94% non-Hispanic Black, 40% male) at two schools (i.e., one per summer) who were struggling academically (25-75% on a standardized reading test) were provided a free, school-based 6-week health- and academic-focused summer program (i.e., HSL,
resultsRegression estimates indicated that, on days attending, HSL children experienced a greater reduction in sedentary minutes (- 58.6 [95% CI = - 92.7, - 24.4]) and a greater increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (36.2 [95% CI = 25.1, 47.3]) and steps (2799.2 [95% CI = 2114.2, 3484.2]) compared to 21C children. However, both HSL and 21C children were more active (i.e., greater MVPA, total steps) and less sedentary (i.e., less sedentary minutes and total screen time) and displayed better sleeping patterns (i.e., earlier and less variability in sleep onset and offset) on days they attended than children in the control.
conclusionsHSL produced greater changes in physical activity than 21C. However, attendance at either HSL or 21C leads to more healthy obesogenic behaviors. Based on the behavioral data in this pilot study, a larger trial may be warranted. These results must be considered along with the pending primary outcomes (i.e., academics and BMI
trial registrationNIH-NCT03321071. Registered 25 October 2017.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.