J Acad Nutr Diet

Background Over 14 million children in the United States attend summer camp annually, yet little is known about the food environment in day camps. Objectives Describe the nutritional quality of meals served to, brought by, and consumed by children attending summer day camps serving meals and snacks; describe camp water access. Design Cross-sectional study. Participants/settings One hundred forty-nine children attending five summer camps in Boston, Massachusetts in 2013. Main outcome measures Foods and beverages served were observed for five consecutive days. For two days, children’s dietary intake was directly observed using a validated protocol. Outcome measures included total energy (kcals) and servings of different types of foods and beverages served and consumed during breakfast, lunch, and snack. Statistical analyses performed Mean total energy, trans fats, sodium, sugar, and fiber served per meal were calculated across the camps, as were average weekly frequencies of serving fruits, vegetables, meat/meat alternates, grains, milk, 100% juice, sugar-sweetened beverages, whole grains, red/highly processed meats, grain-based desserts, and salty snacks. Mean consumption was calculated per camper per day. Results On average, camps served 647.7 (SD: 134.3) kcals for lunch, 401.8 kcals (149.6) for breakfast, and 266.4 (SD: 150.8) kcals for snack. Most camps served red/highly processed meats, salty snacks, and grain-based desserts frequently, and rarely served vegetables or water. Children consumed little (for example, at lunch, 36.5% of fruit portions, 35.0% of meat/meat alternative portions, and 37.6% of milk portions served), except for salty snacks (66.9% of portions) and grain-based desserts (64.1% of portions). Sugar-sweetened beverages and salty snacks were frequently brought to camp. A quarter of campers drank nothing throughout the entire camp day. Conclusions The nutritional quality of foods and beverages served at summer day camps could be improved. Future studies should assess barriers to consumption of healthy foods and beverages in these settings.

28330733

PMC5484720

Journal Article

United States

CDC Public Access