School holidays are prime time for excess weight gain in Australian children

With the summer holidays just weeks away, Aussie kids can’t wait to get some well-deserved time off. However, too much downtime could create health problems, as new research shows that the holidays are the best time for excess weight gain in children.

Conducted by the University of South Australia’s Exercise, Nutrition and Activity Research Alliance team, the ‘Life on Holidays’ study assessed changes in children’s fitness and body fat during the holidays. It found that children’s body fat increased at a faster rate during school holidays than during school terms.

Funded by the NHMRC, the study found that young children (in Years 4 and 5) expended less energy during the holidays than during the school year.

Specifically, children:

• he slept 12 minutes less a day
• spent 12 minutes less per physical activity
• spent an additional 70 minutes a day on screen.

Children’s body fat increased at a greater rate during recess and aerobic fitness decreased faster than during school periods.

It is the first study of its kind outside the US.

In Australia, one in four children and teenagers are overweight or obese. Globally, more than 124 million children and adolescents (6% of girls and 8% of boys) are obese.

Lead researcher UniSA Professor Tim Olds says promoting physical activity for children in the school holidays could help tackle unhealthy weight gain and declines in fitness.

“Like all of us, children (and their parents) deserve some time off, but the way they spend their time in the holidays is very different to the school term – and in ways that aren’t always good for children’s health,” says Professor Olds. .

“In the school holidays, children are significantly less active than when they are at school, and this translates into higher body fat percentages and lower levels of fitness.

“During the holidays, children spend about 12 minutes less each day in moderate to vigorous physical activity – nearly an hour and a half per week – and have more than an hour of extra screen time each day. They also spend an extra 20 minutes each day on transport, and a quarter of an hour more per day just relaxing.

“It’s no surprise that children gain weight at a faster rate in the school holidays compared to the school term and lose a lot of fitness. If children spent the entire year on vacation, their body fat percentage would increase by about 4% more each year than if they had no vacation, and their fitness would decrease by about 10% each year.

“Children who do not get enough exercise and movement are at greater risk of developing health problems such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes later in life, so it is important to encourage children to stay active and adopt a balance between downtime and of exercise. “

The two-year study focused on children aged 9-10, with data collected at the start and end of Trimesters 1 and 4 and in both Years 4 and 5. More than 150 participants from the ‘Life on Holidays’ study took part in this study .

Co-researcher Dr Dot Dumuid of UniSA says one solution could be for Australia to adopt the US institution of summer camps and holiday programs to improve children’s use of time during holidays.

“A defining factor of school holidays is that they are unstructured – they can grab food from the fridge whenever they want and generally have access to computers and devices – and there’s no doubt that screen time plays a key role in increasing sedentary time during of the school holidays,” says Dr Dumuid.

When you compare this to the structure of a school day, where children have a packed lunch and scheduled PE lessons and playtimes, it is very different.

In contrast, summer camps and vacation programs receive wide approval as they provide children with physical activities in a semi-structured manner. Already popular in America, summer camps may be worth investigating as a viable option for a holiday in Australia.

We all want our children to be healthy. And while devices and television may provide some babysitting, is your child’s health really worth it?”

Dr Dot Dumuid, Co-Researcher, UniSA