Weight Loss Camp Counselors Address 10 Reasons Teens Tend To Overeat

November 4, 2009 By Joe Leave a Comment

Any kind of weight loss for teens can be a challenge for all involved especially for counselors at teen weight loss camps. Why is that? Counselors have to deal with the eating issues that teenagers face along with their hormonal lows and highs.

Doctors often recommend additional counseling for obese teenagers, as this may establish a reason why the child is suffering from the weight problem. Obviously, overeating is a key problem but the reason behind the weight gain itself may be complicated.

There are 10 big reasons as to why obesity occurs. They are:

  • Depression
  • Family issues
  • Genetics
  • Lack of exercise
  • Low self-esteem
  • Medical conditions
  • Medications
  • Overeating
  • Peer issues
  • Poor eating habits

Some teens are being lazy, eating whatever and whenever they want; really obese teens tend to have an underlying factor or two behind their excessive weight. However, it’s not known whether the factors cause the child to become obese or if the obesity caused the factors.

The majority of overweight teens want to lose weight but they have a misconception that losing weight gets quick results. However, teen weight loss camps like ours help them understand the truths and myths on weight loss along with setting realistic goals and developing exercise and nutritional plans. Besides doing all this, weight loss camp will help tackle the emotional characteristics facing teens and their weight loss.

Through the use of counseling, teens are able to recognize the underlying issues that causes them to eat more than they should and address them head on. If a teenager eats lots of food when his/her parents are fighting, they can discover a different method that allows him/her to deal with those emotions, all without picking up a lick of food.

When teens tackle the problems of unhealthy food choices and lack of exercise, they can begin to meet their weight loss goals. However, parents play a big role in their teenagers weight and health by making health food choices of their own. Some well-meaning parents have thwarted their teenagers weight loss plans because they’re afraid their child isn’t eating enough. It’s hard enough to diet but for obese children, it’s even worse when parents are trying to force more food into them. Sometimes, it’s more than just the fear of them not eating enough food but the fear that the child will accomplish their weight loss goals, something the parents have been unable to do themselves.

Teenagers who can recognize their overeating triggers will succeed in losing weight. Under a substitution method, they can do exercises instead of eating junk food.

Another big reason for teenagers to overeat is boredom. Boredom isn’t classified as an emotion but it’s the lack of having something worthwhile to do. Teens will use the emotional terms to clarify why they overeat. However, by substituting these emotional responses from eating to exercise, they can begin to tackle their weight problem.

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Weight Loss Camps Today

October 27, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

For years weight loss camps for kids were filled will teen age boys and girls who were willing to eat sparingly and exercise dutifully for a few weeks in exchange for quick weight loss. These programs were often advertised as “diet camps” and nothing more.

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the past twenty years. Children haven’t changed but their eating habits and activity levels have undergone drastic changes. Fast food has become a way of life for many time stressed families and sugar laden drinks are no longer a treat but have become part of the daily diet. Video games and computers have replaced outdoor activities and children are delivered to and from school and activities by car even for distances of a few blocks.

The results of this lifestyle are obvious. Chubby toddlers turn into pudgy kids then become overweight teens and obese young adults. The new weight loss camps are designed to break this cycle. They reject the title “fat camps” and describe their programs as “lifestyle weight loss” or “fitness camps“.

The best weight loss camp for any child is the one where he will become engaged in the process and learn to change his eating habits and his exercise routine in a way that will benefit him long after camp is over. The goal of fitness camp is to teach kids the relationships between eating and exercise. Weight loss is about calories taken in versus calories expended and understanding that relationship is crucial to establishing a healthier lifestyle.

One big advantage of time spent in a fitness focused “fat camp” for kids is the ability to exercise with others who have the same limitations. It’s difficult for an overweight child to keep up with normal weight friends in a typical gym class and often he doesn’t try. In a group of kids with the same weight problems he lives with, the obese child is more likely to expend effort and try to do as much as he can. The fear of being ridiculed or of appearing clumsy is gone and the only competition is with others who are struggling just as he is.

Physical activities are no longer a source of fear and shame. They become real competitions when all participants are well matched. Rude comments and pitying looks are replaced with encouragement and the excitement of other kids cheering you on.

Nothing makes a child feel more self confident than knowing he tried hard and did his best – and it was good enough. A week, a month, or a summer at a weight loss camp will not undo years of overeating and sedentary behavior but it can start an obese child or teen on the path to a healthier future.

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Making Weight Loss a Family Affair – Part II

October 22, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Parents who want to help their child lose weight at home before or after the child attends a weight loss camp must often undo problems they (the parent) caused. If they allowed the child to dictate what he ate without restriction it will take time to establish nutritional rules. It may also require the full cooperation of every member of the family. A child who is not allowed to have sweets will feel only frustration if he knows a locked cabinet is filled with sweet snacks that other family members are eating. He feels deprived, unloved and mistreated and will not be able to focus on solving his own weight problem.

The first step to establishing a good diet is to toss out all foods that do not contribute to the nutritional plan for your child. Most of that junk food isn’t healthy for anyone in the family and if necessary can be eaten away from the home. If your overweight child is demanding on a grocery trip, don’t take him with you. Older children might benefit from a grocery buying trip where you explain and compare ingredients and labels (and calories, sugar and sodium).

Establish family meals where healthy foods are served. No one in the family will suffer because food is not fried or sauced. Instead, the entire family will receive positive health benefits from eating a balanced low fat diet. Changing the eating habits of the entire family will provide the overweight child with the greatest chance of success.

Instead of watching television or playing video games with your obese child, go for a walk with him. If you drive your child to school, drop him off at the curb rather than at the front door of the school. Take your child places where walking is required such as a zoo or aquarium. Organize family weekend activities of swimming or camping. Children are easily motivated to participate in a project to “improve our family’s health” but may drag their feet reluctantly when the subject is “you need to lose weight”.

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Childhood Obesity – Making Weight Loss a Family Affair Part I

October 12, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Note: This is the first of two articles that discuss the shocking reality of childhood obesity and what parents can do at home to help their children lose weight

Our eating habits are formed in childhood. For this reason, the diet of the entire family is of concern when a child is overweight. The most common scenario is an overweight child with one or more overweight siblings and with at least one parent with weight issues. Trying to solve the child’s weight problem may be an impossible task unless the entire family is willing to participate and change their eating habits and activity levels. Weight loss camps for kids can help your child start his new eating plan.

One problem mentioned as a contributing factor to childhood obesity is that children are often allowed to choose their own foods. Two generations ago, dinner was whatever the parent put on the table. Children might eat more of the foods they liked and smaller portions of less favorite foods but they didn’t choose what was served.

The results of 18,100+ questionnaires sent to families with children showed that 4 of 5 families reported allowing the children to make their own food decisions. The same study also found strong links between children who have healthy eating habits and regular family mealtimes. The more often the family ate meals together as a group, the less likely it was that children in the family were obese.

Other studies have shown children with low self esteem are more likely to become obese but this theory has been challenged by medical professionals who wonder if the obesity was caused by lack of self esteem – or vice versa. Teen weight loss camps take a proactive approach to the link between overeating and self esteem.

What can’t be argued is the explosion of children obesity we’ve seen in the past twenty years. This pattern is not only a burden for those children whose activities are limited by the extra pounds they carry but will be a great burden on health care as these children become obese adult. We’ve already noted increasing numbers of adults suffering from types of diabetes brought on by excess weight.

The worldwide estimation of overweight and obese children is 10%. From 1980 to 2000 the number of obese children in the US tripled. The number has stabilized but 30% of the children in the U.S. Are classified as overweight or obese. This number has brought discussions of weight loss for children to the forefront…

Part II of this article series will be completed next week and will focus on what can be done to help curb childhood obesity.

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Reality TV Show Films at Camp Pocono Trails

September 15, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Our weight loss camp hosted the popular shows on MTV – “Fat Camp” and “Return to Fat Camp” in 2006 and 2007. We’ve also been featured on Good Morning America. This year, we were happy to be featured on the Style Network’s show “Ruby.” Michael Sadowski of the Pocono Record had a featured story about Ruby’s visit to our camp:

Workers at Camp Pocono Trails know the drill when it comes to having television cameras on their grounds.

The camp has been featured in MTV documentaries and on “Good Morning America” in recent years.

So when weight-loss hopeful and reality show star Ruby Gettinger brought her show to the Reeders camp in June, it was business as usual for camp director and founder Tony Sparber.

“We’re not strangers to having cameras at the camp,” he said. “We’re very media-friendly, we’re very proud of what we do. We’ve had times where we’ve had cameras on us from eight in the morning to 10 at night, so we’re used to it.”

And for someone bringing a message like Ruby — whose self-titled reality show just wrapped up its second season on the Style Network — Sparber was happy to bring the cameras back for another taping.

You can read the entire article here.

If you’d like more information about our successful weight loss camps, please feel free to contact us.

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Picking the Right Weight Loss Camp for Your Kids

August 24, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Years ago, the term “fat camp” was used to describe the summer camps that kids and teens went to to lose weight. Those camps were typically intense experiences that did more harm than good for a number of the children. The weight loss was temporary at best, and the psychological strain was never worth the price that was paid. Today, fitness camps for kids are different. They focus on a holistic approach to weight loss that teach children long term healthy living strategies instead of focusing on losing weight quickly.

Parents that are considering sending their child to a summer weight loss camp often struggle with the final decision. Admittedly, sending your child away to get help with their weight loss takes power away from the parents and is a way of them saying “I give up. I need help.” This is never easy to do, but is often the best choice to make. Certainly, parents are able to learn the things that they need to and eventually can help their children get on the right track, but that takes a lot of time that many parents simply don’t have. There is nothing wrong with leaving it to professionals who have years of experience working with kids just like yours.

So, as you search around for weight loss camps for teens and kids, here are a few things that you might want to keep in mind to help you determine what camp is the best for your family.

First, check to make sure the camp uses a healthy weight loss approach. Although this seems obvious, you need to make sure you’re not sending your child to a camp that subscribes to the “old school” approach towards weight loss. This should include plenty of healthy choices at meals such that your kid won’t go hungry at camp. Look for samples of the daily menus and check for plenty of veggies, fruits, lean proteins, and whole grains.

Second, look at the kinds of exercise activities that they offer. In short, these should be FUN. Camps that use things like weight rooms, tradmills, crunches, and so on are not going to be enjoyable, and therefore will not be successful for your child. The more fun your kid has at camp, the more exercise they will get, and the more successful they will be. One of the main goals for a weight loss camp should be to break the “exercise is boring” mentality and show kids that there are plenty of ways to exercise and have fun.

Also, as you evaluate weight loss camps, make sure that the camp you choose sets realistic goals for their campers. It is important to remember that children lose weight differently than adults and need to set goals with that in mind. A number of kids “grow in” to their healthy weights more than they shed pounds like adults do. Thus, be wary of any camp that promises to send back a “skinny kid” as that may not be the most healthy thing for your child.

Finally, as I said above, look for camps that use a holistic approach to weight loss. This should extend beyond diet and exercise. Many overweight children suffer from emotional issues like depression. If these emotional scars are not addresses, the chance of long term success will decline dramatically. Therefore, seek out camps that employ qualified counselors that give children the support they need to work through these difficult issues as they learn to be a whole healthy individual.

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Why our Weight Loss Camps are Successful

July 30, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

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.

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Weight Loss Strategies Used at Weight Loss Camp

July 27, 2009 By matt 1 Comment

Perhaps you have seen us on MTV’s “Fat Camp” show and came here to learn more about how we make our weight loss camps fun and healthy. What do we do to get the results we see every year? Here are six things that we do with each child that attends our camps to help them get on the path to successful weight loss.

First, we encourage our campers to keep eating. This may sound counter intuitive, but it really works. By encouraging kids to eat periodically throughout the day, we are able to divide daily caloric intakes up in to smaller pieces and also speed up metabolism rates by giving the body less food to process at one time. Of course, we also make sure that the foods that kids eat here are healthy ones (see below).

Second, we encourage kids to drink a lot of fluids. Adequate hydration is important for everyone, but for people that are trying to lose weigh, having six or more glasses of water every day is even more important. Water helps to suppress your appetite, improves digestion, cleans the body of toxins, and provides energy for physical activities. At our camps, water is always readily available.

Third, children that are trying to lose weight need support from others, which we provide at our camp in numerous forms. Counselors at weight loss camps provide the emotional and spiritual support that many children need when they’re trying to lose weight. When kids have people cheering them on, they are often more successful in their weight loss efforts as it helps them with self-esteem issues, which are common in overweight kids and teens. Although we provide plenty of support for kids and teens at our camps, it is important to note that they need the same kind of support at home after their time here is over.

Next, you have to make losing weight fun! Anyone that has been on strict diet with the goal to lose weight knows how hard that can be. It shouldn’t be surprising that those methods are rarely successful with children. At our weight loss camps, we focus on fun activities for kids to help them be more active, burn more calories, and lose weight. The goal is to teach kids that “exercise” can be fun, not hard and frustrating. We prefer activites like swimming, basketball, hiking, and so on as the foundation for our exercise instead of situps, running, and so on.

Also, it is important that kids and teens learn about healthy diets. At our camps, we take the time to instruct kids about proper nutrition and show them ways to make healthier decisions in their every day eating.

Finally, proper sleep is important to weight loss. Kids need more sleep than adults, especially kids trying to lose weight. Kids that don’t sleep enough also have problems with hormone imbalances, like leptin and ghrelin, which help to control appetite. When they don’t sleep enough, leptin levels remain low and lead to a feeling of not being “full” after eating – which leads to more eating when it isn’t necessary. Further, kids that sleep more have more energy the next day for activities that burn calories, helping them lose more weight.

If you’re struggling with an overweight child and need some help getting the process started, contact us today to sign up for one of our summer weight loss camps.

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The Factors, Risks, and Solutions to Childhood Obesity

June 25, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

“Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. At present, approximately nine million children over 6 years of age are considered obese.”
– Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2004)

How can you not read the above statement and not find it alarming? For the past 30 years, the number of overweight and obese children in America has climbed. Steadily. This is a complex problem, as there are a number of contributing factors to this problem. Additionally, there are a growing number of known long-term health risks associated with obesity in children and teens. Here, I’d like to briefly discuss some of the more common factors that contribute, some of the risks that obesity presents, and how one of our weight loss camps can be an ideal solution.

Contributing Factors

Poor lifestyle habits is one of the biggest contributing factors. Children today are less active than children from generations past. Consider the “average day” of a child today: They roll out of bed and sit down to eat breakfast. After breakfast, they either ride the bus, drive, or get a ride to school. At school, the spend 90% of their day sitting at a desk. They then ride home from school and sit down at home to do homework. After homework, they sit down for dinner, then spend the evening watching TV, playing video games, doing more homework, or playing on the internet. After that, they go to bed. Where is the activity? How are they expected to burn calories when they spend the majority of their day sitting down?

Toss an increasingly unhealthy diet in there, born out of our modern need for convenience over health, and it should be no surprise that we have more obese children than ever before. Further, consider the kinds of foods that we’re constantly bombarded with via advertising. When was the last time you saw a commercial encouraging you to eat more fruits and vegetables? I can’t remember either. But, I can tell you all about the commercials for candy bars, junk food, super-sized fast food, and so on that I see every day. Given how much TV children watch these days, it comes as no surprise that kids typically choose these kinds of foods over healthier alternatives.

Risks that Childhood Obesity Present

With each passing year, more and more studies are released that confirm connections between childhood obesity and some pretty serious, potentially fatal, health concerns. Worse is the fact that the long-term results of these issues haven’t been completely realized yet since obesity is a relatively recent big problem that warranted scientific studies. Some examples of the kinds of diseases and conditions that have been linked to childhood obesity are: Cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, mycardial infaction, Type II Diabetes, joint problems, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and several others.

The Solutions

Today, the solution to obesity is no different than it was 100 years ago – people need to eat well and exercise often. It’s as simple as that, in most cases (genetic causes aside). Instead of allowing children to spend an entire day playing on their Playstation, we need to encourage them to go outside and kick the soccer ball around with some friends. Instead of eating fast food three times a week for dinner, families need to find a way to eat healthier.

At our weight loss camps, we provide the perfect environment to develop those healthy habits. Our meals are well planned and healthy. Children have plenty of fun ways to exercise, and they are surrounded by a staff of caring individuals and peers that are going through the same struggle that they are. Many families report that changes are much easier to make at home when their child returns from camp and is motivated to make some changes on their own instead of doing so because Mom and Dad say so. Our camps are also nationally accredited, which not all weight loss summer camps are, meaning you know you’re making a sound investment.

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Other Ways Weight Loss Camps Can Help Tweens

June 5, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

A tween (kids ages 8-12) is naturally inclined to feel uncertain as they lose the confidence that childhood offers. They start wondering about whether they will be accepted. Will they be popular? They might lose self-esteem and self-confidence, This is why a fitness camp might help because a fitness camp may boost their self-esteem.

The Journal of Consumer Research shared a study that linked materialism and self-confidence and how this varies among age groups. The groups were asked to make collages of the things that bring pleasure to their lives. Tweens aged 11-12 placed more pictures of materialistic things on the collages than pictures of family or goals. The younger groups placed more emphasis on family whereas the older teens placed more emphasis on futuristic goals.

In addition, a test group of the tweens were asked to read a positive message about themselves prior to making the collages. These tweens showed less materialism in their collages. This indicates that with more self-confidence comes less materialism.

Material possessions tend to be used to make up for other areas that the tween may feel are lacking. When they don’t have the self-confidence to think that they will be popular based on their own merits, things like Gap clothes or iPhones are used to gain popularity. This isn’t necessarily ‘new’ news, but rather is some empirical evidence to support what we all thought to be true.

You can easily see that by boosting your tweens self confidence levels, you’ll be giving them the tools they need to place less value on materialistic things. Weight loss camps can help you achieve this in a number of ways.

A fitness camp can help an overweight tween start down a healthier road towards ideal body weight. Girls tend to gain weight during puberty and some of this might be avoided if they begin exercising and eating properly. Many overweight children have lower levels of self-confidence, but once they are empowered to make positive changes, their self-confidence levels soar.

Athletic children also benefit from a fitness camp by learning techniques that will enhance their natural talents. When kids do well in sports, this is a great source of self-esteem, and in fact is one of the biggest benefits of children being involved in organized sports.

By spending the money now on a summer weight loss camp, you might be able to avoid some of those materialistic expenses in the future. Sure, your tween might still want that iPhone or pair of $100 Nike’s, but they’ll be easier to persuade towards less expensive items because they aren’t relying so heavily on the materialistic purchase as they will have the self-confidence to build relationships with peers on their own.

Not only that, but teaching your child to incorporate healthy habits now is a gift that will last a lifetime.

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