Differences in Children’s Food and Beverage Consumption between School and Summer: Three-year findings from the What’s UP (Undermining Prevention) with Summer Observational Cohort Study

Background Summer vacation is a time when youth gain excessive weight. A key driver of unhealthy weight gain is poor dietary quality. The absence of consistent structure (e.g., school), is hypothesized to be one of the reasons for lower diet quality during summer. This study examined differences in school and summer dietary quality among a diverse cohort of children across three years. We also examined the impact of attending structured programs on children’s diets. Methods Parents of 1,298 children (age 5–14 years, 48% girls) completed a time use diary each day for 14-days during school (April/May) and again in summer (July) from 2021 to 2023, for a total of 6 timepoints. The daily diary collected information on the child’s location and dietary intake for that day. Mixed-effects models examined the odds (OR) of consuming a food/beverage (e.g., fruit, vegetable, soda, salty snacks) on a given day during school vs. summer, overall and by income. Models also examined the impact of attending structured programming during summer (e.g., summer day camp) on the likelihood of consumption. Results A total of 39,983 time use diaries were completed. Overall, children were less likely to consume fruit, vegetables, milk, 100% juice, and salty snacks (OR range 0.63 to 0.87), and they were more likely to consume non-carbonated sweetened beverages, soda, frozen desserts, and fast food (OR range 1.17 to 1.63) during the summer compared to school. On summer days with structured programming, children were more likely to consume fruits, vegetables, milk, salty snacks, sweetened beverages (OR range 1.13 to 1.45), and they were less likely to consume frozen desserts, fast food, and soda (OR range 0.63 to 0.90). Few differences were observed between income groups. Conclusions Children were less likely to report consumption of more healthful foods/beverages and more likely to report consumption of less healthful foods/beverages during summer compared to school. Attending structured programming during summer is associated with improved diet – suggesting such settings have potential to modify dietary intake.