Observational studyBMC public health2025
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.
Observational study in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- "I feel better as a parent" - summer programs help support children's health behaviors and parent wellbeing.Research square · 2026Article
- School's Out, Rules Out: Changes in parent rules and routines over summer from the What's UP (Undermining Prevention) with Summer Observational Cohort Study.Research square · 2026Article
- Levelling-up summer: using summer holiday programs to support child health and wellbeing - a Delphi study.BMC public health · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
18 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundSummer vacation is a time when youth gain excessive weight. A key driver of unhealthy weight gain is poor dietary quality. The absence of consistent structure (e.g., school), is hypothesized to be one of the reasons for lower diet quality during summer. This study examined differences in school and summer dietary quality among a diverse cohort of children across three years. We also examined the impact of attending structured programs on children's diets.
methodsParents of 1,032 children (age 5-14 years, 48% girls) completed a time use diary each day for 14-days during school (April/May) and again in summer (July) from 2021 to 2023, for a total of 6 timepoints. The daily diary collected information on the child's location and dietary intake for that day. Mixed-effects models examined the odds (OR) of consuming a food/beverage (e.g., fruit, vegetable, soda, salty snacks) on a given day during school vs. summer, overall and by income. Models also examined the impact of attending structured programming during summer (e.g., summer day camp) on the likelihood of consumption.
resultsA total of 39,983 time use diaries were completed. Overall, children were less likely to consume fruit, vegetables, milk, 100% juice, and salty snacks (OR range 0.63 to 0.87), and they were more likely to consume non-carbonated sweetened beverages, soda, frozen desserts, and fast food (OR range 1.17 to 1.63) during the summer compared to school. On summer days with structured programming, children were more likely to consume fruits, vegetables, milk, salty snacks, sweetened beverages (OR range 1.13 to 1.45), and they were less likely to consume frozen desserts, fast food, and soda (OR range 0.63 to 0.90). Few differences were observed between income groups.
conclusionsChildren were less likely to report consumption of healthier foods/beverages and more likely to report consumption of unhealthier foods/beverages during summer compared to school. Attending structured programming during summer is associated with improved diet- suggesting such settings have potential to modify dietary intake.
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