The Summer Slide by Karl Alexander

Author:Karl Alexander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Summertime needs to be prioritized as a key context in which declines in academics and health can and must be addressed. Children at greatest risk for obesity during the summer months are the same children who experience high degrees of learning loss over the summer. Indeed, a common set of social-environmental factors affect both health and academics, putting the same subpopulations of American youth at greater risk during the summer (McLaughlin, 2012). Research suggests that getting youth engaged in structured summertime experiences over the summer is paramount to keeping both academic declines and weight gain at bay during the summer months. In addition, summertime experiences among youth not only illustrate stark contrasts of resources, but also magnify existing inequalities in health and school performance.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided a $10 billion increase in Title I funds that included the development of new summer activities. However, there are far too many children who are not able to access summertime programming. Although city mayors, such as Bill deBlasio in New York City, have expanded summer enrichment programs substantially, further efforts have fallen short, and calls for targeted education taxes to support summer programming are unpopular (Mead, 2015). Academic skills-based programs are more likely to get funded, allowing them to reach students who would not otherwise be able to attend an organized, academic program during the summer. Thus, another route to addressing summertime weight gain may be to leverage community connections to enhance health and reduce obesogenic behaviors at summer programs that address academics as a primary focus.

West Virginia’s Energy Express program is one innovative example of a dual achievement/health program (West Virginia University, 2015) that focuses on enhancing literacy skills for a wide variety of both special and regular education children. Federally funded AmeriCorps service members staff the program, keeping the costs low. Almost three-fourths of Energy Express participants qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and thus the secondary focus of Energy Express is providing nutritious, family-style meals to participants through the USDA Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Other programs, like the YMCA Summer Learning Program, also focus on addressing academic skills using certified teachers for instruction while providing meals to participants through either federally funded programs like the SFSP or through support from private organizations (YMCA, 2012, 2015). The Y programs are also able to provide opportunities for physical activity for youth using their existing facilitates and other resources. In both of these programs, children receive high-quality instruction at a low cost and often receive one or two free meals in addition to opportunities to engage in physical activity. These programs have a unique opportunity to impact both the academic and physical health of their participants, and by combining nutrition and academics, the door may be open for additional funding opportunities that would not be available to academic-only programs.

In order to address obesity, it is essential that researchers and policymakers begin to consider summertime influences on obesity. To date, evidence suggests that summertime programming may be a more cost-effective strategy for addressing the disproportionate rates of obesity among youth.

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