Getting a child that is used to a life full of inactivity and a poor diet to switch to a life full of activity and healthy eating is certainly not an easy task. There will always be foods available that are loaded with trans and saturated fats and the pull of television, computers, and video games will always be felt. However, as more and more children become obese in this country, the response to fight the problem also grows. Many families have found success with our weight loss camps to jump start the process of change.
The path to obesity is, unfortunately, a cycle that is a snowball effect, of sorts. Children that live unhealthy lives gain weight, which leads to poor self-esteem as they are commonly judged and teased by society, especially peers at school. This poor self-worth often leads to feelings of helplessness and an inability to make changes, which inevitably leads to them continuing to live an unhealthy life. This leads to more teasing, and on and on…
As such, we focus on improving self-esteem here at our camps as much as we do on weight loss. Our name, New Image Camps, is based on that philosophy – we want kids to look different to others, but more importantly, we want them to change the way they view themselves. To accomplish this, we use a wide variety of fun group activities that teach kids new skills (which they can fell good about) and allow them to meet new friends and counselors who provide a solid network of support. With improved self confidence, our campers are more likely to engage in behavioral changes with respect to their exercise and eating habits.
This leads to another snowball effect, although this one is positive. As kids begin to feel better about themselves from the support they receive from counselors and peers at our camps, they become more willing to make changes to their lifestyle, such as learning that healthy foods are pretty tasty in their own right! So, they begin to eat better, which increases their feelings of self-worth and leads to more involvement in group activities, which also increases their self worth, and so on…
This is why we insist that we are not a fat camp in the typical sense of the term. Traditional fat camps deal with losing weight, first and foremost. They are often joyless places that have kids leaving that feel worse about themselves than they did when they came. This is, of course, not a very successful strategy. Instead, we focus on the whole individual. Our focus is more on fun, education, and self-esteem, which leads to weight loss, among other things. This difference in philosophy from traditional fat camps is why we have so many campers that choose to come back year after year – they know camp will be fun and enjoyable, but also a place where they can improve themselves.
So, while childhood obesity will likely be a problem that our society struggles with for a long time, rest assured that if you are ready to truly solve this problem for yourself or your child by addressing some of the underlying issues, our camps are a great place to do so.
