Testing the effect of summer camp on excess summer weight gain in youth from low-income households: a randomized control
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Testing the effect of summer camp on excess summer weight gain in youth from low-income households: a randomized controlled trial E. Whitney Evans1,2* , Rena R. Wing1,2, Denise F. Pierre3, Whitney C. Howie4, Morgan Brinker5 and Elissa Jelalian1,2
Abstract Background: Children from racial and ethnic minority groups, low-income households, and those with overweight or obesity gain more weight during the summer than the school year. Summer day camps, which offer routine opportunities for physical activity and regular meal and snack times, have potential to mitigate excess weight gain. This randomized controlled trial was done to determine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of summer camp in preventing excess summer weight gain among youth from low-income households. Methods: Children, ages 6 to 12 years, were randomized to attend 8-weeks of summer day camp (CAMP) or to experience an unstructured summer as usual (SAU) in 2017–2018. Primary feasibility outcomes included retention, engagement and completion of midsummer measures. Secondary outcomes included changes in BMIz, engagement in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior, and diet quality and energy intake from the school year to summer. Multivariable linear mixed models were used to assess group differences. Results: Ninety-four participants were randomized to CAMP (n = 46) or SAU (n = 48), of whom 93.0 and 91.6% completed end of school and end of summer assessments, respectively. While CAMP participants attended only 50% of camp days offered, on average, they lost − 0.03 BMIz units while those in SAU gained 0.07 BMIz units over the summer (b = 0.10; p = .02). Group differences in change in energy intake from the school year to summer were borderline significant, as energy intake remained relatively unchanged in CAMP participants but increased among participants in SAU (p = 0.07). Conclusions: Randomizing children to attend summer day camp or experience an unstructured summer as usual was effective in this low-income sample. Our findings support the potential for summer camps in mitigating excess summer weight gain. A larger randomized trial is needed explore efficacy, cost-effectiveness and longer-term effects of attending summer camp on weight and weight-related behaviors. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Registration: NCT04085965 (09/2019, retrospective registration). Keywords: Childhood obesity, Physical activity, Diet, Sedentary behavior
* Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, The Miriam Hospital, 196 Richmond St, Providence, RI 02903, USA 2 Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School, Providence, RI, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you
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