If you have an overweight child, chances are good that their activity level is well below what it should be.  One of the biggest contributing factors to a more inactive lifestyle among today’s youth is our growing use and dependence on technology.  With nearly 20% of America’s youth being overweight, something must be done.  At our weight loss camps for teens, we promote a healthy and active lifestyle, but we also have the luxury of being separated from a lot of the technology that contributes to the problem.  While at home, here are some things for parents to be aware of that lead to their children not getting enough exercise and gaining weight as a result.

First and foremost, it is important to be aware that all kids are different.  Some simply enjoy indoor activities like reading and coloring more than playing outside.  This is not necessarily bad.  If your child fits this bill, do not keep them from the things they enjoy, but try to make the activity more active.  For example, if they like to draw, have them hike to a pretty place and then sit down and draw a picture of it.

Self-esteem also plays a role in not being active enough.  Some children are afraid that they are no good at certain activities and make excuses not to participate or ignore them outright.  Finding things they enjoy is key here.

Schoolwork and computer time is another thing to consider.  Many kids these days have hours of homework every night, which takes time away from other activities.  Teaching your kids effective study habits to make their study time more efficient is a good way to free up some of this time.

At the same time, parents also play a role in their children being less active than they should.  For example, some parents punish kids by forcing them to stay inside the house for weeks at a time.

Another way that parents contribute to their children’s inactivity is by allowing them to have a TV or computer in their bedroom.  While this may help maintain peace in the living room, it also encourages your child to spend time in their room sitting around.

Finally, parents must remember to lead by example.  If the adults in a child’s life spend all of their time watching TV, chances are good that their children will grow up with the same habits.  The more active you are, the more likely your child is to get involved in some of the things you do.

Addressing all these issues at once is hard for a parent to do and can cause more problems than it solves.  If you find all of the above to be representative of your child’s lifestyle, you may want to consider a weight loss camp as a stepping-off point for your child’s weight loss.  After spending time at a camp, the changes at home will seem less extreme and will be much more likely to have long-term results.

The goal of a weight loss camp is to show kids how to live healthily and show them that many of the activities they thought were no fun or that they were no good at can be enjoyed.  Your child will also receive the professional and peer-based emotional support that they need.

Studies have shown that not getting enough sleep can be a contributing factor to weight gain and both children and adults.  The problem with a lack of sleep is the cycle that it creates.  For children, it goes something like this:

• Child stays up late watching TV, playing video games, doing homework, etc.
• Child wakes up the following day without enough rest
• Child spends the next day with low energy levels, leading to inactive lifestyle because they are tired
• Child does not get enough exercise for the day, leading to weight gain
• Child has energy left over at night because they didn’t exercise, so they stay up late again….

This cycle can be detrimental to proper health as it will continue to repeat itself.  Toss in some unhealthy eating habits, and you have a road map for successfully gaining weight.  As responsible parents, we need to ensure that our children do not get stuck in this cycle.  At our summer weight loss camps, we do our part to make sure campers get enough rest at night and burn plenty of energy throughout the day.

At home, parents can start with some easy solutions.  Limit the amount of time kids spend doing “inactivities” like watching TV and playing on the computer.  A TV/computer/video game “cut off” time in the evening is a simple way to keep kids from staying up late doing these things.

Homework is also a common culprit of late bedtimes.  The easiest way to curb this problem is to have your kids work on their homework as soon as they get home.  They will have it out of the way when bed time rolls around, allowing them to get proper rest.  It might also help their grades when they’re not rushing to complete assignments late at night.

Dealing with excuses for not going to bed is another common problem.  Once bed time approaches, kids have a habit of suddenly needing a drink of water, a shower, or anything else that will allow them to stay up later.  The first step in combatting this issue is to make sure these things are taken care of earlier in the night.  You can also help get your kids ready for bed by making sure they get some activity during the day.  Give them some time to play outside or get them involved in extra curricular activities that take place after school where they will get some exercise.

Finally, a well balanced meal at dinner time will also help.  A square meal a few hours before bed will reduce late night snack cravings that are normally not healthy choices.

The simple fact is that the factors that contribute to weight loss in adults are nearly the same in children – proper diet and exercise.  Children that do not get enough sleep at night are less likely to get proper exercise the following day, which can lead to weight gain.  As a parent, you can learn from the strategies used at weight loss camps to proactively address these problems by limiting inactivity time, making sure homework is completed early, forcing them to get some exercise, and serving healthy meals.

As a parent, you’re likely very concerned with the health of your child. If you’re afraid that your child is too overweight, your concerns are justified. The number of overweight children has dramatically increased in recent years and the health consequences (physical and mental) are becoming worse. Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Sleep Apnea are just a few of the potentially life threatening conditions now being found more commonly in obese children. As a responsible parent, you must take action to help solve any weight problems your children have before things get worse. You can solicit the help of professionals at our teen weight loss camps, but before you get that far, here are a few things you can do to determine if your child really has a weight problem.

In children, being classified as “overweight” is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 25. BMI is calculated using a child’s height and weight. If you know these numbers, a quick online search should point you in the direction of several calculators. It’s probably best to use a few different sources to ensure you get an accurate calculation. Additionally, it is worth noting that some children naturally have a higher than average BMI, especially very athletic kids who have a lot of muscle mass. Keep that in mind before drawing any conclusions – you should know if your kid falls in to this category.

If you determine that your child is indeed clinically overweight, your next step is to consider your child’s history. Is this additional weight relatively new or has your child always had weight issues? You can look at past medical records if you have them to calculate their BMI from past years. Many kids follow a growth curve that is healthy but is either higher or lower than other kids their age. Looking at your child’s past can assist here. If they have followed a healthy growth path without any big jumps, they may be just fine. However, if a recent weight gain (or one several years ago) was bigger than usual for your kid, you likely have a problem that needs to be addresses. These large weight gains are commonly associated with prolonged periods of inactivity.

Next, begin thinking about what may have led to rapid gains in weight. Unhealthy diet and lack of exercise are the most common culprits, but often emotional disturbances trigger these events. Diet and exercise are the keys to losing weight, but we all know that getting a kid to go on a diet and change their routine to be more active is much easier said than done. This is where a summer fitness camp can be incredibly effective. Kids can get away from their daily routine and have an opportunity to develop new, good habits that they can then transition back to home once they are more comfortable with a better diet and more exercise.

Finally, make sure that this evaluation process is done rationally. If your family is made up of a bunch of incredibly skinny people and your kid just happens to be a bit bigger than is average for your genes, they could still be completely healthy and jumping to conclusions could be more detrimental than beneficial. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact a professional. When dealing with obesity and the potential negative health effects, it is always better to be safe than sorry. The keys to making changes for the better are support from family and friends and avoiding drastic changes that kids will naturally resist. Again, a weight loss camp can be extremely beneficial in providing a supportive environment full of professionals who will ensure your child loses weight safely and has fun while they do it. If your kid learns to hate healthy living, any changes made in the short term will not last.

There are a lot of weight loss camps out there for children and a quick search on your favorite search engine will provide you with a number of results.  So, the question is – How do you sort through all the options and find the right camp for your child?

Here are a few things for you to keep in mind when you are considering your options:

Camp Leadership – The person “running the show” at a weight loss camp needs to be qualified and experienced.  Check their credentials and look for expertise in areas such as education, behavioral psychology, outdoor education, as well as the clinical/specific aspects of weight loss.

Clinical Programming - The camp should have a a well defined program that is focused on cognitive therapy and is conducted by qualified personnel.

Educational Programming – A camp should also focus on educating kids and teens about nutrition, proper diet, exercise, and the short and long term psychological aspects of weight control.  Usually a combination of staff is responsible for this area of programming, so ensure that all those involved are qualified.

Meals – The food served at the camp should be healthy and balanced, but also tasty and fun enough to teach campers that eating well isn’t as boring as it sounds.  Meals should be focused on low fat meals that are enjoyable and should also include snacks as snacking is a regular part of most children’s diet.  If a camp does not provide you with sample menus, ask.

Uncontrolled Foods – Be sure to look for a camp that offers some sort of “uncontrolled foods” in the diet.  Uncontrolled foods are those whose portions are not regulated by the camp staff.  In essence, they are “all you can eat” parts of meals.  These are extremely important as they are reality – outside of weight loss camp most meal portions are not controlled.  Kids need to learn how to control their own portions and camps that offer uncontrolled foods provide a framework for doing so.

Fun & Exercise – Fitness camps should offer a wide variety of activities aimed at getting kids moving around and burning calories.  It is important that there a many activities to choose from as not all kids will enjoy the same activities.  Ideally, search for a camp that offers the kind of activities that can easily be done outside of camp.

Involvement of Family – Family will play crucial role in the ultimate success of a summer weight loss camp.  Kids will get a good start over the summer, but if they are going to be 100% successful, they will need support from their family when they return home.  Therefore, it is important that camps involve families from the beginning.

Post-Camp Follow Ups – Weight loss camp shouldn’t end when your child returns home.  Staff from the camp should stay in touch with you and your child after they complete the program to get progress reports and offer any advice/help that they can.

Measurable Success – The camp should have a track record of success that they are not afraid to share – in fact they should brag about it.  They should also use other measures beyond pounds of weight lost to track their progress.

Camp Facilities – Obviously, the more current and up to date the facilities are, the better.  That is not to say that an old camp is bad.  So long as they offer facilities that are safe, well maintained, and comfortable for your child.

Doing due diligence up front to select the right teen weight loss camp for your child is extremely important.  If you have the ability, take a tour of the camp before you sign up and search online for reviews, videos, and any other pieces of knowledge that can help you make the right decision.

Taking part in a summer weight loss camp can be a life-changing experience for your child.  However, keep in mind that it is only the beginning of a greater journey.  If the lessons learned are not brought home and encouraged, the summer spent away from family will be little more than wasted time and money.  Thus, as a parent, it is important that you do the proper amount of research about the camp that you want to send your child to.  Also make sure that you get some input from your child as they will be the ones at the camp.  The goal is to make the entire experience – from the first day at camp through months after returning hom – educational and fun, resulting in a healthier and happier child.

A healthy diet is key to successful weight loss and is one of the biggest things we stress at our weight loss camps.  Many parents and kids do not know where to begin when planning to eat healthier, however a common misconception that is out there is that eating fewer carbohydrates will help.  While this is true to an extent, you need to be aware that carbohydrates are a part of a healthy diet – the key is picking the right carbs to eat.

Carbohydrates are one of the three macro nutrients:  Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates.  Protein macro nutrients are meats, nuts, seeds, dairy and soy.  Fats come from plant oils and animal fat.  They are found in various forms such as butter and cooking oil as well as being in animal protein sources and even in some vegetables and fruits such as avocados.

In our daily diets, we should eat roughly 20-25% protein, 20-30% fats and 50-60% carbohydrates. You can see where it’s important that we choose the right types of carbohydrates given that they make up more than half of our daily foods.

Carbohydrates are mainly from plants, whether that means a piece of fruit or a vegetable or a manufactured product made from flour such as crackers, bread or even cookies.  However, kids, this does not mean that you can eat a cookie in place of a vegetable and still get the same carbs.

The problem with the cookie is that the nutritional part of it, the wheat that was used to make the flour, is no longer helpful to your body.  Plants contain some very important things such as vitamins, minerals and fiber.  Those are what make vegetables and fruits so good for us!  Once we take that plant, grind it all up, process it in a factory, add a bunch of sugar and fat to make it taste better, well, then we’ve lost everything that was good for us.

So, the rule of thumb is that if you have a difficult time tracing back that carbohydrate choice to Mother Nature, then you’re going to have a hard time finding any nutritional value to the product.  So, which are healthy choices that we eat at our weight loss summer camps?

1.  Vegetables
2.  Fruits
3.  Whole Grain breads, rice and pasta (made with the whole grain kernel and not entirely out of flour) without a lot of added sugar or fat
4.  Nuts & seeds such as almonds, sunflower seeds and pistachios

So, keep this in mind next time you make the shopping list because you just learned something that many people don’t understand about the problems with most of those carbohydrates on the shelf!

You may need some time to let your taste-buds adjust to this change.  You’ve been allowing that tongue to taste a lot of sugar, so the veggies and whole grains may not taste as good at first.  Over time though, you’ll learn to love Mother Nature’s cuisine a lot more than that sugary junk on the shelves!

Childhood obesity rates in the US continue to rise and we’re beginning to see more and more children suffering from what used to be typical adult diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Simply put, it is tragic. It is the responsibility of the adults in the lives of these children to do what they can to help prevent these kids from being subjected to these diseases.

Of course, preventing childhood obesity is much easier said than done. Everywhere we look there is unhealthy foods for sale, being advertised, and so on. Teenagers especially are at risk for developing unhealthy eating habits as they are allowed more freedom to do things away from home such as eating out with friends. However, the strains that an overweight child’s body are subjected to can be extremely detrimental to their quality of life and we need to do what we can to help them keep off excess weight. If you feel like you’re in over your head, one of our teen weight loss camps is a great way to get the process on the right track.

An overweight child’s quality of life suffers in ways that most people do not consider. Overweight children are more likely to be depressed. Excess weight carried by the body also causes unnecessary strain on body joints and organs. This can make activities more difficult for overweight children to participate in which creates a downward spiral as less activity leads to more weight gain and so on and so forth. Being overweight also affects the production of things like insulin and antibodies which are fundamental in a child’s health. All of these factors add up to support the facts – people who were overweight as kids are more likely to develop chronic diseases as an adult.

Fortunately, preventing childhood obesity is not that difficult. Kids can lose weight simply by becoming more active and eating healthier. Of course, implementing these changes can be difficult at home depending on how long bad habits have been permitted. A great way to circumvent the problems often associated with making immediate and drastic changes at home is to begin with a weight loss camp. At a camp, kids learn the healthy living habits that they haven’t been implementing at home and learn ways to easily transition them to their home life. These life skills will be the sort of things that will benefit the well being of kids throughout their life.