Summer is the time to make sure kids are active

SIKESTON -- Schools often are blamed for the nation's childhood obesity problem, but one recent study suggests 5- and 6-year-olds gain more weight during the summer than the regular school year.

"I think we're seeing a trend, in general, of overweight kids," said Dr. Andrew Boldrey, pediatrician at Ferguson Medical Group in Sikeston. "And I think that the typical activities causing weight gain are more prominent in the summer because children have more time in front of the TV and more snack food and junk food available."

The findings of the study conducted by Ohio State and Indiana University don't reveal what's behind the out-of-school weight gain, but the researchers speculate it's because the summer months lack the structure of the school year with all its activities and daily comings and goings.

Boldrey agreed.

"During the school year, they have a scheduled recess time and PE classes where kids are involved in structured activities. When summer hits, the children are left to use creative play on their own," Boldrey said.

In the summer kids are often more entertained by sedentary activities like video games, TV, the Internet, etc. -- things not burning calories, Boldrey said.

"The other thing you see with kids and screen time is they have a snack or eat something while they're watching TV or playing video games," Boldrey said.

Limiting the amount of screen time, which includes watching TV, playing games and navigating the Internet, can help reduce the extra snacking and inactivity, Boldrey said, adding the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours of quality TV and videos a day. For the study, Indiana University and Ohio State researchers studied the growth rates of the body-mass indexes of 5,380 kindergartners and first-

graders. The data came from a National Center for Education Statistics survey that ran from fall 1998 to spring 2000 in 310 schools across the country.

The university sociologists discovered that youngsters' BMIs increased on average more than twice as much during summer break compared with the school year. That increase was even greater among black and Hispanic students and kids who were overweight at the start of kindergarten.

Once kids were back in school, however, the monthly growth rate of their BMIs fell, and the growth rate gap between the overall population and the minority and overweight groups shrank, the researchers found.

The study appeared in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

"The No. 1 thing is to get those kids outside," said Kenny Stone, YMCA of Southeast Missouri health and fitness director.

Riding bicycles, playing games like tag or hide-and-seek are all great ways to get children moving, Stone said. Putting a sprinkler in the back yard and playing with the water hose are other great ways to be active during the summer, he said.

Also Sikeston Public Pool will be open, and different programs will be happening at the YMCA in addition to other community youth programs like team sports.

"If the parents can do something with them, that's even better," Stone said. "At that age, they want to spend time with their parents and want to relate to them."

Parents should continue to make sure healthy snacks are available to their children, Boldrey said. Make sure children are not filling up on empty calories. Limit soda intake and encourage children to drink more water, the pediatrician suggested.

Stone agreed but said kids are going to be kids.

"You can't deprive them. You can limit their sweets, but restricting it all together is a bad idea," Stone said.

Part of being a kid is eating those unhealthy snacks, Stone said. But when their not burning off the extra energy, it's stored as fat, and that's how they gain all that weight, he said.

"It's tough on parents because during the school year, the kids are getting their exercise and outdoor time when their parents are at work," Boldrey said. "Now the kids are, maybe, at babysitter where they're not getting as much exercise or outdoor time. To keep them active, parents have to do it after work and it makes the day longer for them."

Childhood obesity is a problem that needs to be addressed year-round, Boldrey said.

"The whole family has to make a commitment to eating healthier foods and increasing their activity level," Boldrey said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.