How can an obese child lose weight?

January 20, 2012 By julie Leave a Comment

We’re all aware that childhood obesity is a growing problem, as obesity rates among children and adolescents have nearly tripled since 1980.

What’s causing this increase in obesity rates? Obesity has many different causes. Some of the causes are:

  • Lack of physical activity or sedentary lifestyle
  • Too much fat in the diet
  • Too much sugar in the diet
  • Family genetics

With those causes in mind, here are a few tips that can help obese children lose weight and help children with healthy weights stay there:

  • Find a “stopper”. A stopper is an activity that is incompatible with eating. Examples are chewing gum, playing outside, running, or doing house cleaning.
  • Make lifestyle changes as a family. Get rid of high-fat, high-sugar or salty snacks in your home to avoid temptation for your kids.
  • Drink plenty of water. Set an example for your kids. Water is healthy, and can keep you full so you don’t want to eat as much.
  • Exercise as a family. Go for a bike ride, play tennis, go swimming, or just go for a long walk as a family.
  • Find a weight-loss camp for kids that focuses on fun exercise opportunities, long-term success and lifelong friendships, such as Camp Pocono Trails.

More tips on helping obese children lose weight.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , ,

Can Controversial TV Commercials End Childhood Obesity?

January 13, 2012 By julie Leave a Comment

A new ad campaign in Georgia urges residents to “stop sugarcoating” childhood obesity. The ads aim to raise awareness of the problem by saying things like, “WARNING: It’s hard to be a little girl if you’re not,” and by claiming that 75% of parents with overweight children don’t realize there’s a problem.

Are these striking commercials enough to make a difference in the childhood obesity epidemic? Raising awareness is one step, but being aware of the problem won’t stop it. True lifestyle changes are the only way to conquer childhood obesity once and for all.

Changing one’s lifestyle, or the lifestyle of one’s children can be an overwhelming task. Incorporating more exercise, healthier foods and less time being sedentary in front of the TV or video games requires true commitment and dedication, and often parents don’t know where to start.

Weight loss camps for kids, such as Camp Pocono Trails, are a great way to kick-off healthy lifestyle changes. Kids and teens are taken out of their current environment and routine for a summer to a place where they can play, learn about and experience the lifestyle changes it takes to be healthier.

Additionally, kids and teens have a chance to connect with others who are working toward the same goals as they are, leading to an environment of acceptance and lifelong friendships.

Is there a better way to spend a summer? It’s not too early to start planning. Check out our dates & rates page today to find the summer adventure of a lifetime.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , ,

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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

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.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,

Are Weight Loss Camps The Right Solution for Your Child?

April 14, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Are you frustrated with your overweight or obese child? We all worry about our children and with the awareness of the growing childhood obesity epidemic, we may feel a bit panicked to help our children. Unfortunately, we sometimes create bigger problems for our children and ourselves when we turn a problem into a major issue.

Denying our children sweets may lead them to sneak or hoard snacks and desserts. Even though we don’t mean to, we may end up making them feel very badly about themselves leading them to turn to their favorite comfort food for consolation.

As well, it’s easy to make common dieting mistakes such as denying food in between meals or skipping meals. This not only lowers your child’s metabolism, but it also encourages the opportunity to overeat at the next meal. There’s a lot to know about weight loss for adults and children, but there are even more weight loss challenges when it comes to children.

A weight loss camp would allow your child an environment that fosters their weight loss needs with the training and expertise that we lack. Children are usually more responsive to other adults. They behave better for other parents when spending time at a friend’s house. They tend to listen to teachers and wouldn’t dream of throwing a fit for an instructor the way they would for you. You can stop the food battles in your home by allowing trained professionals to help. The support that a weight loss camp can offer you and your child is truly priceless.

As well, your child will be surrounded by other kids who have similar issues. Whether you are heavy or thin, your child may feel like you don’t really understand their problems. If you are thin, your child may be embarrassed about their weight issues and feel as though you couldn’t possibly understand what they are going through. If you are heavy, your child might feel as though you can relate, but can you help?

These are all issues that can be very frustrating, but they can’t be ignored. It’s imperative that we help our children now so they won’t face all of the problems that obesity has in store for them down the road. Obesity can lead to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint problems and even some forms of cancer. Mentally and emotionally, your child faces an uphill battle in gaining acceptance and forming a good sense of self-esteem and self-confidence.

A teen weight loss camp can set things right and give you and your child the tools you both need to overcome this obstacle.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Parents Must Do Their Part at Home, Too

March 12, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Children that live over their healthy weight are 70% more likely to become overweight adults later in life and often suffer from self-esteem and self-worth issues.  Today, the numbers have grown a staggering amount from where they were in 1999 when over 13% of the children in the US were overweight.  High cholosterol and blood pressure are more common in young adults than ever before, leading to increased risk of heart disease.  Further, Type II Diabetes is now being found in overweight children – a disease that was once thought to only affect adults.

The numbers are not pretty and as concerned adults, it is time that we step in to do something about it.  We operate our weight loss camps as an alternative solution, but parents need to make changes at home if they want long-term results.  The obvious culprits for weight gain are unhealthy diets and lack of excercise.  There is a genetic influence, but more often than not an overweight child gets that way due to eating improperly and not getting enough exercise.

What, exactly, does it mean to be “overweight?”  I am not a doctor and will not pretent to be one here, but if you are concerned about your child’s weight you need to see a doctor.  They will be able to measure your kid’s body mass index (BMI) and determine if your child is on an unhealthy path.

Since many overweight children suffer from self esteem or other emotional problems, it is incredibly important that you provide love, care, and support for your child, unconditionally.  Do not make them feel ostracized because of their weight.  Instead, try to incorporate gradual changes in to their diet.  For best results, incorporate these changes in to the entire family’s diet as your child will feel like less of an outsider.

Most doctors recommend that children be active for at least 60 minutes of each day.  As a parent, you can help your child by planning physical activities for your entire family or a group of your child’s friends.  Make sure that you have a safe environment where the children will feel comfortable participating in the activities, regardless of their skill or physical fitness level.

Start simple at home.  If you try to get your child to make too many changes at once, you will not be successful.  If you feel like your household environment is not the best place to begin making some of these changes, you may want to consider sending your child to a summer weight loss camp.  Often, removing a child from their normal surroundings is the best thing for them.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Steps to Take Before Sending Your Child to Weight Loss Camp

February 24, 2009 By matt Leave a Comment

Summer weight loss camps are effective in helping kids jump start their weight loss efforst, but should not be the first thing that families look in to when trying to help their child lose weight.  While we certainly stand by the effectiveness of our camps, here are some things you can try at home before sending your child away.

Support at Home – Adults struggle with keeping healthy lifestyles.  Some argue that teenagers have even more stress associated with living healthily as they have peer pressure and changing hormones to deal with as well.  As such, it is important that all children have a healthy and supportive family in their corner.  Parents can help children lose weight by leading by example and providing positive feedback to their struggling youth.  Parents also need to promote healthy eating in the choices they make for the family’s meals.  Start simple by getting rid of junk food and replacing snack options with healthier alternatives like fruits and vegetables.

Speak to a Professional – If you haven’t already, take your child to see a doctor.  Doctors will help you put your child’s weight issues in perspective and can help you develop a plan for making changes at home to help your child out.

Activity Level – Exercise is key to losing weight and a lack of exercise is largely responsible for our growing obesity problems.  A family workout plan is a great way to get everyone involved and supportive of your child’s weight loss efforts.  Take a walk after dinner or schedule family days at the local state park or pool.

Diet – Of course, a good diet is the other part to successful weight loss.  Foods should be wholesome and healthy.  Equally important is making sure that meals are eaten and that they are eaten on time.  Children that replace meals with lots of snacks are more likely to be overweight.  Breakfast is especially important, so make sure your child has something healthy to eat every morning.  Try to avoid meals that are too sugary in the morning like childrens cereal.

If you have already made some changes at home and still feel that your child needs help getting the process started, a teen weight loss camp is a great option.  However, it is extremely important that children return home from camp to an environment that is conducive to losing weight.  If nothing changes at home, chances are not good that your child will have long-term success.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Fat Camp? How the Perception of Overweight Children has Changed

September 30, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

Years ago, the obese or overweight child faced a lot of scrutiny by their classmates and peers.  Taunting on the playground was sometimes even overlooked by teachers that were ignorant to the plights of these children.  Back then the obese or overweight child stood out, and like any noticeable difference amongst a group, their weight trouble was questioned and looked down on.

In years gone by, overweight children were sometimes sent to a fat camp where they were treated in ways that many parents would find atrocious today.  Their focus was on getting kids to lose weight through an almost drill-sergeant-esque approach.  Their focus was on short term weight loss and much less attention was paid to promoting a holistic healthy approach to living life.

Today with the rise of childhood obesity, more and more children on the playground are in fact overweight or obese.  It’s almost a half and half ratio.  It’s really tough to even say what the average size child is anymore.  As a matter of fact, the flip side are the children on the playground whose parents are so paranoid about their child becoming heavy that they are in fact too thin.

Why do we care about all of this?  Well, if you are a parent of an obese or overweight child, you might take comfort in the fact that your child may not experience the sort of isolation and ridicule that they once did.  As well, you should understand that they may be so comfortable in numbers so to speak, that they don’t see much need to lose weight or grow into their weight.

Ultimately, this boils down to taking a healthy self-empowering approach to childhood obesity.  With the help and guidance of counselors at a weight loss or fitness camp, you can help teach your child about proper weight as it relates to health, not appearance.  Empowering your child to lose weight helps them not only in their weight loss efforts, but also in peer pressure.  When children allow the group to make decisions for them, they aren’t in charge of their lives and are left vulnerable to many potentially harmful situations down the road.

So, while we should be thankful that our children may not experience the same taunting on the playground that obese or overweight kids did when we were young, we need to caution ourselves to take comfort in that totally.  After all, we’re worried about their health, right?  Not their popularity.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , ,

The Scary Truth about Childhood Obesity

September 4, 2008 By matt Leave a Comment

It’s hard to turn on the news or read a paper anymore without hearing something about the obesity crisis in America.  Our poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles have certainly caught up with us.  Today’s kids are feeling the effects as well.  We have more obese children than we have ever experienced.  Years ago, there used to be one or two larger kids per class.  In today’s world, it’s not unlikely that half of the class will be overweight or obese.

Even though your child is not likely to be singled out as heavy kids once were, that does not take away from the truly scary things about childhood obesity.  Obesity is linked to many, many diseases.  If your child is obese, they are likely to have some fairly unpleasant problems in the future such as:

* Increased risk of cardiovascular disease:  High blood pressure, Atherosclerosis, Myocardial Infarction
* Type II diabetes
* Joint problems such as bad knees and back problems
* Increased risk of  developing certain cancers such as breast and prostate cancer
* Lessened quality of life

It’s important that you help your child now before the health conditions are set in stone.  You need to educate yourself and understand the physical and emotional aspects of obesity.  You need to figure out creative ways of helping your child lose a bit of weight and grow into his or her weight without adding a bunch of pressure.  You need to explore other alternatives such as therapy and fitness camp.   Today’s fitness camps are a far cry from the stigmatized “fat camp” of yesterday.

Obesity is something that can be completely reversed if you are willing to work hard and if you are able to empower your child to work hard.  Adjusting one’s life to lose weight efficiently isn’t an overnight process, but if you commit to it now, you’ll be giving your child a wonderful gift; the gift of good health!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , ,

Hidden Childhood Obesity Factors

August 19, 2008 By matt

When your child is born, your probably never think that you’ll face obesity issues.  Yet, here you are looking up information on teen weight loss camp and how to help your child lose weight.  What happened?  What went wrong?

It’s a blanket order to say that childhood obesity is because of all the junk food in our society and the sedentary lifestyles that our children lead.  True, but not informative enough.  There are some hidden factors behind this epidemic.

For one, the world is not as safe.  When we were children, we often had the run of the neighborhood.   Past learning to look both ways before crossing the street and adopting safe biking rules, our parents really let us out in the morning, expected us back by lunch and then out again until dinner.  Our kids don’t have that luxury.  Is it any wonder why they have so much "screen" time?  What else are they supposed to do?

Secondly, super-sized, junk food advertising is a huge enemy to us and our children.  The bigger, the better, right?  The next time your child is watching something on television, sit down and write down the types of commercials you view along with your child.  Any commercials for fruit and veggies?  Did the ice cream commercial show a child with a normal sized cone or a huge dripping mass of ice cream larger than the child’s face?

So, what do you do?  We need to find creative ways of offering up that physical activity.  Team sports are great, but let’s face it, they are seasonal and usually take place only a few hours a week.  Arrange "watch" time with other parents in the neighborhood.  Maybe each of you could take a day to oversee the kids playing outside.  Set up safety cones to slow down traffic.

Get your child into a fitness camp where they can play actively all day long, safely with other kids.  Find activities in the house that involve more than sitting:  Dancing, indoor obstacles courses, Wii Fit, active games like Hullabaloo.

As far as the advertising goes, remember that though you can’t control the media, you are still in charge of what your child eats.  Down-size, don’t super-size!  Take them to the produce section and let them pick something new to try each week.  Let them know that fruit doesn’t come from a "fruit-roll ups" box.  Try to eat dinner together as a family at least four times a week.  Children learn what they live more than anything else!  And above all, find creative ways of getting them away from that suggestive television!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts