A Novel Summer Camp Integrating Physical, Psychological, and Educational Health in Youth: The THINK Program

Abstract

Numerous youth summer programs focus upon physical fitness, nutritional health, psychological well-being, or education. Few, however, have integrated all of these elements into a single program. The Translational Health in Nutrition and Kinesiology (THINK) program provides an integrative nutrition and exercise science curriculum that is interfaced with social emotional learning (SEL) and STEM education to enhance healthy behaviors in youth. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the THINK program could improve physical fitness, nutrition habits, SEL, and STEM education in a 6-week summer program covering a 3-year period. Participants from South Miami were enrolled in THINK (n = 108, 58 males, 50 females, 12.03 + 0.56 years). Physical fitness assessments, the Positive Youth Development Inventory (PYDI), the Students’ Attitude Towards STEM Survey, and the Adolescent Food Habits Checklist (ADFH) were recorded at baseline and post-testing. Means and standard error values were evaluated for all dependent variables. Paired samples t-tests (SPSS version 27) were used to determine changes. Improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness (p < 0.001), power (p < 0.006), flexibility (p < 0.001), agility (p < 0.001), muscular endurance (p < 0.001), lean body mass (p < 0.001), ADFH (p < 0.001), and PYDI (p = 0.038) were found. An integrative summer fitness program can result in improvements in physical fitness, nutrition habits, and SEL in as little as six weeks.