The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
June 24, 2008
With most U.S. students on summer break, researchers and health advocates are urging parents to ensure that children are maintaining healthy eating habits and regularly participating in physical activity, the New York Times reports. Last year, the American Journal of Public Health published a study suggesting that the body mass indices (BMIs) of kindergartners and first graders increased at two to three times the rate during the summer as they did during the regular school year. The disparity between summer and school year BMI-growth was particularly acute among minority children and those already considered overweight.