Newswise — The summer holiday break is often considered a time of fun and relaxation for school children, but hand in hand with a respite from routine comes an increase in sedentary behaviour and screen time, and in turn, poorer health and academic outcomes. University of South Australia researchers have conducted the first ever review of studies of 14 million school children and what happens to their academic performance, and physical and mental health, over the summer break. Published in international journal Children , the paper found that children (aged five-18) were spending more time inside on devices during the summer holidays, which was contributing measurably to a decline in their physical health, including poorer fitness and unhealthy increases in body weight.
Specifically, the study found that a break from the academic structure of the school day led to a decrease in numeracy skills with many children regressing in their learning – approximately 71% of reviewed papers that investigated numeracy skills found significant learning regression. UniSA researcher and Fulbright Scholarship recipient Emily Eglitis says interventions are needed to offset this ‘summer slide’ and improve children’s health and academic outcomes. “During the summer holidays, it’s normal for school children to become less active , eat more junk food, and spend more time on screens, and it’s important for them to get some proper down time – but what we’ve noticed is that these .