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Seasonal variability in weight change during elementary school
Jennette P Moreno1, Craig A Johnston, Tzu-An Chen
1USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics-Nutrition, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|January 6, 2015
Summary
Children gain weight during summer breaks and lose it during the school year, with overweight, obese, and Hispanic children showing this pattern earlier. This highlights the need to address summer weight gain.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric obesity
- Childhood growth patterns
- Seasonal weight variation
Background:
- Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern.
- Understanding seasonal weight changes is crucial for developing effective interventions.
- Disparities in weight gain patterns exist across different ethnic groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate seasonal variations in weight gain among elementary school children.
- To analyze these variations based on weight status (healthy weight, overweight, obese) and racial/ethnic background.
- To identify the onset of seasonal weight gain patterns in early elementary years.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 7,599 ethnically diverse students (ages 5-7 at baseline).
- Measurements of height and weight by school nurses from kindergarten through 5th grade.
- Analysis of standardized Body Mass Index (zBMI) changes across school years and summer breaks.
Main Results:
- A consistent pattern of zBMI increase during summer (0.04-0.09) and decrease during school years (-0.06-0.00) emerged after 1st grade.
- This pattern was observed earlier (in kindergarten) for Hispanic children and those who were overweight or obese.
- Children of other ethnicities and healthy weight did not show this pattern as early.
Conclusions:
- A significant pattern of relative weight gain during summer and loss during the school year emerges after 1st grade.
- Overweight, obese, and Hispanic children exhibit this weight change pattern earlier.
- Further research is needed to understand the causes of increased summer weight gain in children.
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