Hour after school pickup is worst time of day for kids diet, researchers say

BOSTON - One particular hour of the day may be especially unhealthy for young children.

Researchers at Boston Medical Center and Cincinnati Children's Hospital compared the dietary intake of more than 300 children in childcare and found that in the hour before and after pickup, kids ate fewer servings of dairy and vegetables compared to other times of the day. 

They also found that in the one hour after pickup, they consumed about 20 percent of their daily caloric intake and about 22 percent of their daily sugar, typically through sweet and salty snack foods and sugary drinks.  

Periods of transition can be stressful for parents and kids, but being more mindful of what you offer your kids when you pick them up from daycare or preschool could help improve their overall diet.

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Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.