Preliminary Effectiveness of a One-Week Summer Day Camp for Improving Children’s Health Behaviors and Psychosocial Well-Being Outcomes
Purpose: Summer day camp offers children opportunities to grow knowledge and skills, be physically active, and have fun. Compared to healthy children, at-risk children (i.e., overweight, or with obesity and chronic health conditions) typically display less optimal health behaviors and psychosocial w...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Children |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/9/1097 |
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| Summary: | Purpose: Summer day camp offers children opportunities to grow knowledge and skills, be physically active, and have fun. Compared to healthy children, at-risk children (i.e., overweight, or with obesity and chronic health conditions) typically display less optimal health behaviors and psychosocial well-being, especially during summer months. This study examined the preliminary effectiveness of an American-Diabetes-Association-sponsored summer day camp at improving children’s health behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, diet, sleep) and psychosocial well-being outcomes (i.e., quality of life [QoL], enjoyment, weight-related self-efficacy). Method: The sample consisted of 39 participants, including 19 boys and 20 girls, with majority being overweight (<i>n</i> = 4 or 10%) or with obesity (<i>n</i> = 26 or 67%), who attended the day camp for one week. Results: Significant improvements were observed in screen time, quality of life, and physical function. The results further showed significant time by gender interaction effect for overall QoL (<i>p</i> < 0.05, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msubsup><mrow><mi>η</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 0.15), physical health (a dimension of QoL; <i>p</i> < 0.05, <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msubsup><mrow><mi>η</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msubsup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> = 0.18), and significant time by household income for the psychosocial health (another dimension of QoL), favoring boys and those from higher income families. Discussion: The findings indicate a positive preliminary effectiveness of the summer camp at reducing children’s screen time and improving their QoL, especially in boys and those from higher-income families. Future research should focus on health disparities and expansion of this camp for the potential of longer-term and more robust effects related to wellness, nutrition literacy, physical activity promotion, and obesity prevention. |
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| ISSN: | 2227-9067 |