A prospective study on vacation weight gain in adults

- Short-term vacations result in significant and persistent weight gain.
- A trend for greater physical activity during vacations does not prevent weight gain.
- Perceived stress and systolic blood pressure decrease after a 1-3 week vacation.

PurposeTo determine if a 1- to 3-week vacation in adults leads to weight gain and whether that gain persists 6 weeks later.Methods122 adults going on a 1- to 3-week vacation completed 3 visits. The visits were 1 week prior to, 1 week post, and 6 week post vacation. Height, weight, blood pressure, and waist-to-hip ratio, physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire - IPAQ) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale - PSS) were measured.ResultsBody weight increased on vacation (0.32 ± 0.08 kg, p < 0.05) and this increase persisted so that total weight gain was 0.41 ± 0.11 kg (p < 0.05). No difference in weight gain based on BMI was found (0.28 ± 0.13 kg, 0.39 ± 0.14 kg, and 0.48 ± 0.27 kg for normal weight, overweight, and obese, respectively). PSS decreased for the study (17.1 ± 0.5 to 14.9 ± 0.6 for pre-vacation to 6-weeks post-vacation, respectively; p < 0.001), and total physical activity tended to increase on vacation (3940 ± 235 vs. 4313 ± 344METs, for pre- vs. post-vacation, respectively; p = 0.10) and decreased in the post-vacation period (4313 ± 344 vs. 3715 ± 306METs, p < 0.05).ConclusionsVacations resulted in significant weight gain (0.32 kg), and this weight gain persisted at the 6-week follow-up period. The weight gain appeared to be driven by increased energy intake above energy requirements. This gain could be a significant contributor to yearly weight gain in adults and therefore affect obesity prevalence.