"I am thrilled to offer these scholarships to kids in need who really want to get their lives back on track," says Tony Sparber. "Our kids lose an average of 4 pounds per week on our program, which is portion controlled."

Camp Pocono Trails PR Newswire

Over 700 children ages 7-19 will attend Camp Pocono Trails in Reeders, PA for an average of 4-5 weeks. They are expected to lose an average of 5 pounds per week. Summer 2011 includes the most diverse group of campers yet, coming from 30 states and 6 countries including, Venezuela, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, Israel, England, and France.

Tony Sparber, director and founder of the camp, taps into his 30 years’ experience running successful weight loss camps. Reaching the 100,000 pound mark illustrates that Sparber’s campers are not only taught how to shed pounds, but how to reformulate their lives to be healthier, happier, and more confident.

Press release for Camp Pocono Trails

Teens already suffer from an onslaught of bodily and hormonal changes, peer pressures, and swiftly approaching responsibilities.  Adding something like being obese to this list of stress-factors makes it particularly difficult for a teen to set and achieve goals.  Counselors at summer camps are specially trained to help teens feel good about themselves and give them the extra boost they need to succeed at losing weight.

The sad truth is that most obese teens simply don't get the support they need to successfully lose weight.  Teens are probably less accepting than any other age group of obesity and other differences.  Kids can be cruel at this age, and obese teens typically get the exact opposite of what they need when it comes to warmth and compassion.  And peers are not the only ones to blame; many times family members, often with the best of intentions, are so critical that the teen simply doesn't have the self-esteem to care about taking action and losing weight.  Shame leads to eating and inactivity, which lead to more shame.

The pressure in our society to be skinny is so strong that even people of normal weight often report having painful memories of not belonging during adolescence.  Kids are especially vulnerable between the ages of 13 and 18, and it is common for people who are obese between these ages to report emotional pain lasting into their 30s and 40s.

Weight loss camps give girls the opportunity to talk about fashion and their looks with people who look similar, eliminating the embarrassment they might feel talking about such subjects with skinnier girls.  These camps put teens in an environment where they feel they are not inferior to the people around them or being constantly judged by people.

Boys enjoy the same benefits.  They can talk about any subject they want in front of people they know are similar to them, or even confront members of the opposite sex without feeling like they are creating an awkward situation.  At this age, interactions with the opposite sex are very important to the development of self-esteem and a feeling of beginning to enter the adult world.  The social benefits of weight loss camps are just as important as the physical benefits.

Ultimately, everyone needs to feel like they belong somewhere.  Weight loss camps provide an environment where your teen will not feel out of place.  Teens need to feel accepted and like they are supported in whatever goal they are trying to achieve, whether losing weight, making friends, or simply being more social.

While most kids do not worry about whether or not they are obese, all kids worry about what other kids think of them.  Therefore, obesity affects each child differently; some kids are outgoing enough that they are not teased about their weight, and are therefore not bothered by it, but many kids do suffer as a result of their condition.

However, it can be difficult for a parent to convince even a frequently-teased obese child to consider diet and exercise.  Kids often do not see the importance of restraint or how learning to restrain themselves could result in their leading happier lives.  For a child, habits are not a matter of choice, but a matter of the way things are and will always be.

The best time to introduce changes to your child's habits and routines is when other changes are already occurring - between school years or when your child is getting ready to transition to a new school.  All the changes that will already be going on in your child's life will make the new habit seem less intruding.

Perhaps as a parent you are worried about your obese child or teen suffering from the cruelty of his or her classmates?  Most parents can tell or at least get a feeling of when their child is not happy or is suffering from torments at school.  Such torments inevitably manifest themselves through changes in your child's mood or disposition.  You know your child better than anyone else does; it is important to be perceptive.

High school in particular brings a lot of very difficult changes.  A high school student's environment is completely different from that of any other environment he or she has ever encountered.  This is particularly terrifying for a person who is insecure about his or her weight and/or appearance.

Most teens use their summer break from school to improve their looks or otherwise increase their chances of being accepted when school starts back up again.  A weight loss camp is a great way to help your teen feel ready to start school confidently in the fall.

Not only do weight loss camps help kids lose weight while having fun, but they also give kids an opportunity to learn valuable information about nutrition that will serve them in planning healthy diets for the rest of their lives.

Additionally, the exercise habits adopted at teen weight loss camps are fun and will provide a foundation for a life full of confidence and good health that will help your teen see his or her life in a more positive way.

The summer is the perfect time for your child to make a decision either to start the next year the way he or she is, or to start changing for the better. Make the right decision; persuade your child to take this step toward a happier and more productive school year and a better, healthier life.

Everybody knows how important friendships are to a child.  Childhood is a very sensitive period during which the person you will be for the rest of your life is formed.  If your child is obese, it is likely he or she feels limited and trapped by the number of other kids at school struggling with weight loss.

Kids understand at a very early age their likelihood of being accepted among certain social groups.  There are two likely possibilities if your kid is overweight: he or she is quiet and withdrawn, or he or she acts out as an extreme extrovert, always goofing off or engaging in self-degradation.

Obese children often feel like they have to bring more to the table in order to be accepted and have issues with their self-esteem.  And, sadly, most children and teenagers are not accepting of obesity.

Most overweight kids, however, do not even bother trying to put forward the extra effort in order to be accepted by everybody; they will simply make friends with whoever is willing to accept them, and in some cases this is only other obese kids.  Weight loss camps for teens and kids provide a great atmosphere where kids do not have to worry about picking their friends with their weight in mind.

Most kids who spend their summers in our camps report a new-found sense of social freedom from judgment and criticism that they are able to carry over into their lives at school the next year.  The power of genuine friendship is truly amazing.

Most overweight kids are lucky to have one other kid in their class they can relate to.  If your kid is so lucky, he or she is doing better than most.  However, even if your kid has a close friend at school, you would be amazed to see the effects of adding another, or even two or three more close friends.  Not only do weight loss camps allow overweight kids to feel what it is like to have multiple genuine friends, but they also allow them to feel what it is like not to have to be friends with everyone who will accept them, and that will do wonders for their self esteem.

This aspect of weight loss camps is particularly helpful for girls.  The social pressure put on women by society is tremendous, and feeling relief from this pressure is tremendously helpful in losing weight.

Weight loss camps provide kids with an environment in which more importance is placed on their personality, as opposed to their appearance, than may ever have been before in their lives.  The absence of stress this creates will put your child in the perfect state of mind for losing weight and adopting healthier living habits.

However, most parents are not psychologists, and these incentives rarely work.  They are usually too short-sighted, causing the child to focus more on the tangential reward than on the long-term goals they should be adopting.  Naturally, as soon as the incentive is removed or the parent is not around, the child reverts back to whatever habits he or she chooses.

Most children are too young to fully understand all the ins and outs of nutrition and metabolism.  So, of course, they do not understand that it is not just important that their parents see them eating right, but that they actually do it consistently.

Family members almost always have the best of intentions when it comes to helping an obese child lose weight.  Unfortunately, they simply do not have the expertise necessary to effectively and positively reinforce the appropriate behaviors.  And parental misbehavior comes in all types; some will comment negatively on their child's weight, creating an un-supportive atmosphere, while others will say nothing at all.  Both behaviors are wrong, and it is hard to know exactly where in the middle you should fall as a parent.

At a weight loss camp your child will get nothing but positive reinforcement.  This means that your child will be rewarded for the progress he or she makes, but will not be punished or degraded when progress is not made.  Rewards will not consist of food, but rather personal interaction and recognition.

Most obese kids have nothing but negative experience with humor.  They are used to being the punch line of every joke and constantly being laughed at.  Weight loss camps for teens offer an environment in which your kid can learn to use laughter in a positive way.  Specially trained counselors will help your child deal with criticism in more positive ways that do not hinder or get in the way of his or her ultimate goals.

The reason positive reinforcement is so successful is because it makes kids feel like they are being treated like people; it fosters a positive attitude that spreads from the counselors to the kids, and then from the kids to each other.

This environment of positive energy and encouragement gets even the most reluctant teens excited about being part of a group.  Weight loss camps for teens provide a feeling of acceptance for kids that many of them may never have experienced before.  If you are having trouble instilling healthy habits in your child concerning diet and exercise, a weight loss camp is probably the right decision.

Movies and video games are so fast-paced nowadays that any successful plan for getting your kid to exercise has to bring in the element of fun; there has to be a purpose for the physical activity, some objective in all the huffing and sweating besides just doing something that is healthy.  Most parents simply aren't able to keep up with their kids' youthful, energetic cravings for stimulating activity.  A weight loss camp for kids is a great solution for parents who feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of providing their kids with entertaining exercise opportunities.

There is, after all, only so much a parent can do.  Most adults consider themselves lucky if they have time to go for a walk a few times a week.  Getting your children to go on such walks with you is a great start to getting them excited about exercise, but most children crave more - things like walking through the woods and identifying wildlife - and while most parents can do these things occasionally, it is nearly impossible to keep up with a child's curiosity.

How often are you able to take your kids swimming?  This activity is great exercise, and, even if you are able to go with your kids once a week, they could always benefit from the opportunity to swim more often.

There are other ways you can get your child to engage in calorie-burning activities too.  Think of ways to turn tasks around the house into goal-oriented exercise, assigning chores or paying for help around the house with things like walking the dog.

Any kind of game involving the whole family can be a source of exercise.  Even if there does not appear to be much movement involved in the game, simple activities like talking and laughing are great for your heart.  Consider buying your child a bike if he or she doesn't already have one.  Bikes make exercise fun by giving your child a sense of freedom with every fat-burning turn of the pedals.

Every child is tempted to laze about in front of the TV when a friend comes over; it is your responsibility to make sure they are physically active.  Take them to the park, the mall, or whatever you think might interest them.

In the end, it is tough to beat the outdoors when it comes to keeping teens and kids active.  Camping, whether at summer weight loss camps or just with the family, provides a lot of physically engaging tasks that must be completed, like building a fire, pitching a tent, collecting wood and kindling, and keeping the campsite clean.

Ultimately, both weight loss camps and family activities use a similar tactic in getting kids to lose weight: group involvement.  Feeling good about yourself and feeling like you belong to a group are essential to your success in trying to lose weight.  Whatever method you choose for getting your kids active, make sure you keep in mind their need for a feeling of involvement.

Having a social network of people who are going through something similar to what you are going through drastically increases your chances for success.  This is why camps are so successful, and why so many kids report satisfaction and increased self esteem after coming home from summer weight loss camps.

The truth about our culture is that unhealthy eating habits are the norm, and teens trying to develop healthier eating habits often have a hard time finding the support they need from their friends or the people they go to school with.  At summer camps, everyone eats the same thing, and your kid will have the chance to form healthy habits that will become second nature by the time the summer is over.

Most parents try to limit what their children eat, but at the same time they have the responsibility of providing their children with discipline.  These days, everyone is pushing positive reinforcement, and there are only so many rewards parents can offer kids for appropriate behavior.  It is hard to find rewards that are more effective than candy, junk food, and time in front of the television.  Every parent uses these things to reward their child occasionally, and therefore it is particularly difficult to reward a child for abstaining from them.

At weight loss camps, the parents are not the ones enforcing a healthy diet, so the child does not consider former systems of reward and punishment to be necessarily related or relevant.  Camp counselors have the benefit of seeming more like an outside perspective than a figure of authority to the child.

When your child is presented with the absence of everything he or she is familiar with, replaced by a new, structured, and accepting environment, he or she will have a much easier time making lifestyle changes and becoming a more confident and outgoing person.  Making friends quickly becomes both necessary and easy.

In addition to making friends, kids attending a weight loss camp have the opportunity to talk to trained counselors who plan the time spent at the camp in a way engineered to best facilitate physical activity, weight loss, and a positive attitude.  Planned, friendly, competitive activities get kids active both physically and socially.

While a summer camp can help your child lose weight and become a healthier person, it is important to keep in mind that when your child comes home, he or she will be like a different person, and it will be important for the rest of the family to adopt new, healthier habits to show their support.

It is hard to be an overweight teenager.   For teens who are overweight, the years that should be carefree and fun are often torture.   Too often, obese teens are exposed to cruel comments from family members as well as school mates.  They are teased and stared at and the high school experience for them is not one they want to remember.  Overweight teens don’t accept their excess pounds as normal as they may have done as a child.  Boys with weight problems are the last picked for sports teams and get used to sitting the bench.  They are often shy around girls and become the best friend rather than the boy friend.

The approach at weight loss camps for teens is on changing not only the teen’s weight but also their entire lifestyle and outlook.  Teens who have avoided school dances due to embarrassment about their size find themselves dancing without being self conscious.  At camp they change their diet and learn how to make food choices when they leave camp.   Information about nutrition and calories is combined with facts about fast food and common snacks and the low-nutrition, high-calorie problems they present for the teens.

Counselors at weight loss camps for teens understand the teenage mind – which is something parents find hard to do.  Teens are encouraged to contribute ideas and to make choices.   Returning home from weight loss camp, many teens have a different outlook on life.   They understand what led to their weight problems in the first place and have acquired tools to help them continue to lose weight and gain confidence long after "fat camp" is over.