Every parent knows that children spend their time differently when they are on vacation. Our new research has discovered just how differently.
During the school period, the children get up around 7 a.m., put on their uniforms, go to school, eat food from their lunch box or canteen, play at recess and lunch, follow PE class, sit down and get bored or excited in class, and then go home. Their day is very structured.
However during the school holidays, all of this goes out the window. Our new search during the summer holidays, children do less physical activity, spend more time in front of screens and eat more junk food and less fruit than they do during school periods.
So what can families do to counter this?
What our research found
We asked 358 children aged 9-11 from 24 primary schools in Adelaide to wear an activity wristband for four weeks during the school year and one week during the summer holidays. At the same time, we asked the children to tell us about the activities they did and what they ate.
From the activity strip data, we found that during the summer vacation, kids sat an extra 27 minutes and spent 12 less minutes engaging in physical activity. Asking children about the activities they did, we found that children enjoyed 73 minutes more screen time each day, spent an additional 22 minutes in cars, buses and trains, and 23 more minutes eating or grooming. They also spend an additional 16 minutes relaxing (sitting listening to music or doing nothing).
These results mean that their overall energy expenditure is about 13% lower. We also found that the quality of the children’s diets is lower – more junk food and about half of them serve less fruit each day than during school hours.
Why is it important?
More physical activity and less screen time are related to better physical and mental health, higher fitness levels, better school grades and a lower risk of becoming obese. Overweight and obesity in children can lead to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, sleep disturbances and low self esteem.
During the school year, children do not gain much weight, but they do summer holidays. We found that, on average, the weight of all participating children increased six times faster during the summer holidays than during the school period. In fact, if kids lived every day like they do when they’re on summer vacation, they’d put on 6 pounds more a year. Children are also lose physical shapeand their Mental Health and welfare suffer during summer vacation.
These effects are worse among children from poor and less educated backgrounds, and children who are already overweight.
How to maintain the advantages of having children in school, during the holidays?
Some have called for shorter school holidays. But the Australian summer holidays are quite short by global standards. Parents in Australia might appreciate the four weeks enjoyed by Singaporean students, and children the 14 weeks endured by parents in Egypt.
In the United States and Europe, many children go to summer camps during summer vacation. These can be overnight camps, where children spend the night, or day camps, where children return home at the end of each day. The duration of these camps varies considerably and can be short (1 to 2 weeks), medium (3 to 5 weeks) or the full summer session (7 weeks or more).
The research has show where children go to summer camp every day (Monday through Thursday) for six weeks during the summer, children are more active, less stationary and eat healthier on the days they go to day camp summer, compared to the days when they stay at home. These camps can be residential or day camps and can combine physical activity with specific learning activities, such as coding, art or drama.
Families can also try to take their children outside. To research showed that children are likely to be more active when outdoors. Families can also try getting their kids to do something physically active before giving them screen time — that could even be doing chores like mopping the floor.
Families can try to add extra structure to their kids’ vacation days, but it’s hard enough to resist the opportunity to sleep, snack, and binge on Netflix and video games, when the content is precisely designed for children to watch.
Big problems need bold solutions – is it time for school administrators and policy makers to reconsider the length of school vacations, or the lack of summer vacation scheduling, for the sake of our children’s health?
Summer vacation programming can come from a variety of organizations such as sports and activity clubs, schools, religious organizations, museums and art galleries, disability groups, as well as the private sector that also offers summer camps.
Some ways to get everyone out of the house and moving could include the family enjoying a day at the zoo, going climbing [Tree Climb]spend the day swimming and sliding at your local aquatic center or spending time with the animals at Hahndorf Farm Barn.
