Summer nutrition

A recent article in the New York Times addressed an apparent increase in childhood weight gain during the summer months. The author speculated about why: was it bad quality camp food? Lots of snacking?

The trend is worth looking at, although I'm skeptical about her camp hypothesis. First of all, not every kid spends the summer at camp. It’s expensive, for one thing. For another, while the Northeast may have a culture of full-summer camp, the Northwest and some other areas have traditions of shorter summer camps of one or two weeks. Not exactly representative of a full summer’s diet. While camp budgets are tight, and some camp meals are meant to be bland and crowd-pleasing, other camps do focus on getting adequate nutrition into campers' bellies.

I think the two main culprits in summer weight gain are cost and sugar. In terms of cost, for lower-income families, the additional cost of feeding the kids lunch during the week may contribute. If it’s a challenge to afford to feed your kids, you may end up feeding them lower quality food, like fast food or simple carbohydrates that are cheap. As to sugar, summertime is the season of extra treats like ice cream, lemonade, cookies, and pies. There may be a snacking factor at work as well, especially if kids are in charge of more of their own meals during the summer.

So, how do we make sure kids eat well in the summer?

Here are a few tips for programs and families:

Make sure they're eating in the first place

Whether it's your own kids or kids in your community or program, ensure that every child has access to meals this summer. Kids who rely on school lunches in other seasons may go hungry in the summer months. In Washington State, only a small percentage of students who are eligible to receive lunches at school in the summer take advantage of this opportunity, or know it exists. (For more information about summer learning and meal availability, check out School's Out Washington's Feed Your Brain project). If you run a summer program, make sure the kids are eating the food, and check in with them privately if they are not eating. There may be something else going on, like an aversion to something unfamiliar, an allergy or dietary restriction, or an eating disorder.

Limit sweets

I'm not saying the kids should go the whole summer without ice cream, but be aware when a "treat" turns into a near-daily or daily phenomenon. When it's time for sweets, if you're set on having them, choose sweet treats that are lower in sugars, or opt for ripe fruit, like perfect summer berries, instead. Avoid high fructose corn syrup.

Field trip!

Take the kids on a field trip to a small, local organic farm (pre-arranged first, of course) to see where their food comes from and how it's produced. Getting familiar with the source of the strawberries, carrots or milk may make them more appealing. Alternatively, take the kids to a farmers' market. Ask the vendors questions, and plan a picnic together if you have a budget. Check out Puget Sound Fresh for farmers' markets and farms you may be able to visit.

Plant a garden

Summer is a great time to plant a garden with kids or youth, or to see if a community garden needs some help. Getting hands-on with the vegetables and fruits may help kids connect with what they're growing, and be interested in trying something new. Check out the Puget Sound School Gardens Collective for resources and ideas.

Bring local foods into your program's menu

Be inspired by the recent passage of the Local Farms Healthy Kids bill in Washington State, and connect with local farmers to bring fresh produce into your summer meal program. Think you can't afford it? You may be surprised. Many farms are happy to sell their products in bulk discount, and some will even be generous with discounts for a good cause. Going back to that field trip idea, the farm that supplies your program's carrots may welcome the kids for a visit.

Teach kids to cook

Children and youth may be more adventurous in tasting a food if they cooked it themselves, especially if they played a role in planning the menu or recipe. Cooking classes (indoor or outdoor) that focus on healthful foods (like fresh summer produce) can be a fun element to a summer program or camp, or can be carried out at home. Kids can assemble their own cookbooks and favorite recipes.

Service-learning

Do you run a service-learning program for youth, or a program with service-learning components? Healthy food is a great topic to explore. A few ideas for youth:

• Develop a website about local or healthy foods
• Plan a farm field trip for younger kids
• Ask the local farmers' market what you can do to help
• Map resources for healthy and unhealthy foods in various neighborhoods. Compare. Present your findings to local government and/or to groups that run farmers' markets or other sources of healthy food.

Ask questions

If you're a parent or caregiver sending your kid to a summer program or camp, ask about the food. What is a typical day's menu? How much focus is there on nutrition? How much of the food is made from scratch, and how much is pre-made? What is the prevalence of dessert, sweetened beverages, and vending machines? Is there any local food?

What are your thoughts on summer and nutrition? Share them in the comments below.

Thanks to EvanDC, moria, wrestlingentropy, sleestak66, jefield, color_line, smercury98, jonny.hunter, and Aaron_M for the flickr Creative Commons photos.