Healthy Lifestyle Fitness Camp: A Summer Approach to Prevent Obesity in Low-Income Youth.

Objective: To examine the effect of participation in a summer camp focused on nutrition and fitness among low-income youth.

Methods: In 2011-2012, overweight and obese youth (n = 126) from Fresno, CA participated in a free 6-week summer program, Healthy Lifestyle Fitness Camp (HLFC), which included 3 h/wk of nutrition education provided by University of California CalFresh and 3 hours of daily physical activity through Fresno Parks and Recreation. The researchers used repeated-measures ANOVA to examine changes in weight, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) between HLFC and the comparison group (n = 29).

Results: Significant pre-post WHtR reductions were observed in HLFC: 0.64 to 0.61 (P < .001). In addition, WHtR reductions were maintained in HLFC 2 months afterward whereas an increase occurred in the comparison group (P < .007).

Conclusions And Implications: Understanding the impact of nutrition- and fitness-themed summer camps during unstructured months of summer is integral to obesity prevention among low-income youth.