Afterschool Research: Health & Wellness

Afterschool Supports Children’s Well-Being and Healthy Development (May 2023)

Recent studies describe the rise in young people across the country experiencing anxiety, depression, loneliness, stress, and aggression. At the same time, research has found that this time period—from birth through young adulthood—is “the second most critical period of development” in a person’s life and is shaped by the environments that they move through. This fact sheet highlights the essential role that afterschool and summer programs play to support the healthy development of young people, serving as a safe space that fosters belonging, develops supportive relationships with peers and adult mentors, encourages healthy behaviors, and helps young people build and cultivate the skills necessary to navigate through the struggles and challenges they may come up against in life.

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Access to Afterschool Programs Remains a Challenge for Many Families (August 2022)

A survey of approximately 1,500 parents or guardians of school-age children, conducted May 22-June 28, 2022, provides a snapshot of the current afterschool program landscape during the pandemic, documenting that while children and families who are able to access afterschool programs report high levels of satisfaction, for every child in an afterschool program, there are four more who are waiting to get in.

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Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 Surveys

As the coronavirus continues to impact families and communities, the Afterschool Alliance has commissioned a series of surveys of parents and afterschool and summer program providers to monitor the state of the afterschool field and parents' needs as the country adapts to the challenging circumstances and stressors created by the pandemic. Find survey results, interactive dashboards, toplines, and more on this page.

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What Summer Programming Looks Like for 2021 in the Time of COVID-19 - Wave 5 (Aug 2021)

This summer, as most states lift COVID-19 restrictions and families ease back into public life, summer programs also report moving toward a return to normal, with a nearly 70 percent increase in programs opening their doors and serving students in-person in some capacity compared to the summer of 2020 and 8 in 10 providers reporting optimism about the future of their program. However, issues remain, with more than half of providers serving students in-person reporting a waitlist and operating at reduced capacity due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols. The Wave 5 provider survey of 937 program providers was conducted June 2-28, 2021, and represents more than 6,400 program sites.

• Wave 5 Toplines
• Wave 5 Dashbaord
• Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 survey page

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An Ongoing Look at Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 – Wave 4 (March 2021)

Roughly one year after the COVID-19 pandemic began, afterschool programs are continuing to help children, families, and their communities push through these difficult times. This dashboard includes findings from Wave 4 of the Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 survey series, conducted Feb. 19-March 15, 2021, as well as comparisons to previous survey waves.

• Wave 4 Toplines
• Wave 4 Dashbaord
• Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 survey page

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Back to School in the Time of COVID-19 – Wave 3 (November 2020)

Eight months into COVID-19, three key trends are shaping the landscape of afterschool programs across the nation. First, many more afterschool programs are operating now than were in the spring and summer. Second, programs are able to serve only about half as many students as they supported before the pandemic. Third, the children being left behind are disproportionately those from low-income families. These findings are documented in the brief, Back to School in the Time of COVID-19, based on the third in a series of surveys of afterschool program providers to monitor the state of the afterschool field. The Wave 3 provider survey of 1,445 program providers, was conducted between September 28 and October 27, and represents more than 7,300 program sites.

• Wave 3 Toplines
• Waves 1, 2, and 3 Comparison Toplines
• Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19 survey page

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A Big-Picture Approach to Wellness: Afterschool Supporting Strong Bodies and Minds (September 2018)

A comprehensive approach to wellness—which includes healthy eating and physical activity and extends to additional aspects of health, such as social and emotional skills and competencies—can provide the necessary supports for healthy children grow into healthy adults. This issue brief details the national public health issues children are facing today and discusses the afterschool field’s ability to provide a place where children feel safe, are surrounded by supportive mentors, have access to nutritious foods, are able to be active, can form relationships with their peers, learn how to set positive goals for themselves, and feel empowered to take charge of their lives. Accompanying this brief are five in-depth afterschool program profiles that highlight the different roles programs play to support their students’ physical and social and emotional health:

• Zhang Sah Afterschool Program: Focusing on activities that intrinsically embrace HEPA and SEL
• Coaching Corps: Using HEPA as a vehicle to build students’ social and emotional skills and competencies
• DC SCORES and A World Fit for Kids!: Training staff to model healthy behaviors
• Camp Fire Lone Star: Empowering students to take charge of their health

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Summary

Kids on the Move: Afterschool Programs Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (March 2015)

This report discusses the current state of healthy eating and physical activity in afterschool, identifies areas for improvement, and provides recommendations moving forward. Kids on the Move is presented as part of the third edition of America After 3PM, which spans a decade of household survey data chronicling how children spend the hours between 3 and 6 p.m.

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Executive Summary

Afterschool Meals

In 2012, 22 percent of children under the age of 18 lived in poverty and were exposed to hunger. Afterschool meals are an effective way to reduce childhood hunger and promote a healthy childhood weight. This resource provides materials on afterschool and summer meals as well as information about nutrition guidelines.

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Summer Learning Programs Nourish Kids Bodies and Minds (2013)

Not only do summer learning programs keep kids safe and engaged in academically enriching activities that help stem the "summer slide," they also help parents ensure their kids are getting nutritious food while school's out. This fact sheet highlights the important role summer learning programs play in feeding high-needs children, addresses the challenges programs face in providing a summer meal and outlines the benefits of programs’ participation in the USDA Summer Food Service Program.

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