Summer: Weight Gain Bonanza for Kids
Quick! Lock the refrigerator! The kids are gaining weight in the summer.
You'd think they'd be losing it, with all the running around and swimming and playing sports. But a new study has found they do just the opposite. Many kids gain weight in the summer.
According to Anahad O'Connor, "Youngsters may be most likely to pack on pounds when they are home for summer vacation."
Researchers found that body mass index accelerated at a faster rate during summer recess than the school year, O'Connor reports. And the reason isn't hard to figure out why.
Their days just aren't so ordered, in the summer. During the rest of the year, there's get up for school, have breakfast, get dressed, wait for the bus, go to first period, and on and on. But in the summer?
“Many non-school environments are relatively unstructured and unsupervised,” study researchers, “allowing children to indulge in sedentary activities and excessive snacking.”
I work from home so it's easy to supervise my son, who's not that into snacking anyway. But sometimes when we have friends over, the kids can't stay out of the kitchen, overjoyed at our selection of snacks (which, stupidly, my husband and I end up eating).
Another study found that, "for overweight and obese students, the school environment had a protective effect," O'Connor notes.
You'd think they'd be losing it, with all the running around and swimming and playing sports. But a new study has found they do just the opposite. Many kids gain weight in the summer.
According to Anahad O'Connor, "Youngsters may be most likely to pack on pounds when they are home for summer vacation."
Researchers found that body mass index accelerated at a faster rate during summer recess than the school year, O'Connor reports. And the reason isn't hard to figure out why.
Their days just aren't so ordered, in the summer. During the rest of the year, there's get up for school, have breakfast, get dressed, wait for the bus, go to first period, and on and on. But in the summer?
“Many non-school environments are relatively unstructured and unsupervised,” study researchers, “allowing children to indulge in sedentary activities and excessive snacking.”
I work from home so it's easy to supervise my son, who's not that into snacking anyway. But sometimes when we have friends over, the kids can't stay out of the kitchen, overjoyed at our selection of snacks (which, stupidly, my husband and I end up eating).
Another study found that, "for overweight and obese students, the school environment had a protective effect," O'Connor notes.
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