That is correct, the AMA feels that childhood obesity can be prevented by classroom lecturing.

What about the children in the classroom who may already be considered obese? The borderline children who teeter on obesity and the impressionable children who may be negatively effected by the fear of obesity thus creating intentions which could lead toward the just as deadly opposite end of obesity?

The AMA announced support for a call on taxing sugary drinks in order to fund the programs which would eventually become the ‘obesity prevention program’.

The tax on sugary drinks is already being called into question as doctors feel that it will negatively effect the poor disproportionately. While others feel that it is not right to tax people into making healthy decisions that they should be making on their own.

Excess weight is a real problem and can lead to some forms of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Scientists have discovered that even a five-percent weight loss can greatly improve ones health.

There are real alternatives to the scared straight type teaching, this is where a kids and teen weight loss camp like New Image Camps can help create a healthy approach to weight loss. New Image Camps are currently underway at Camp Pocono Trails and Camp Vanguard.

According to a 2006 study, children who are overweight in their preschool years are five times more likely than other children to be overweight at age 12.

Earlier last week Bloomberg.com released an article focusing on childhood obesity and the minefield that kids must navigate between calories and bad ads.

With parents now focused on school lunches and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg banning the sale of sugary drinks over the size of 16 ounces at delis,vending carts, movie theaters and restaurants. The heat is on and it is all aimed at this national crisis.

Food intake is the number one factor in childhood obesity and this is something that can be fixed, at New Image Summer Weight Loss Camp for Kids at Pocono Trails that is one of the primary focuses.

As founder Tony Sparber puts it, “If you’re serious about helping your child attain and maintain a trim and fit body, you must be the first one in your family to make the changes that will put all of you on track in this race for fitness.”

Find out more about the summer program as sessions are currently underway at http://www.newimagecamp.com/

Further study is required to compile international data, but this study is promising in that it could provide some preventive interventions and treatments for children.

While genetics most likely play a role in childhood obesity, changing habits are the only way to get weight-loss results. Children and families who need strategies to jump-start their weight loss and to learn how to live in a healthy way should consider attending a weight loss camp for kids and teens.

The benefits of spending one summer at weight loss camp can last a lifetime! Not only do kids and teens lose weight, but they also gain self-esteem and make lasting friendships.

No matter the cause of childhood obesity, healthy habits are the cure.

While the study didn’t conclusively show evidence of why overweight kids might miss more school, the authors proposed a few theories.

The theories were:

• Fear of being bullied.
• Fear of being teased.
• Feeling embarrassed to participate in physical activities.
• Physical problems linked to obesity such as asthma or sleep apnea.

Whatever the reasons, missing school often can cause children to fall behind their peers academically. Children should never have to miss school because of something as preventable as childhood obesity. You can help your child make great steps toward improved self-confidence and healthy weight loss at a summer weight loss camp for kids.

Weight loss camp is a great opportunity for kids and teens to meet lifelong friends and learn how to live a healthy lifestyle that will keep them in shape for life!

In the study, children first played an online game. In half the instances of the game, the children were excluded from play. After playing online, they were allowed to choose a sedentary or physical activity while researchers analyzed data. In instances where children were deliberately left out of the online game, research showed they were more likely to choose a sedentary activity than the children who were not excluded from the online game.

The findings are a bit concerning and point to what could turn into a negative cycle for kids who are already overweight: if they are already excluded for being overweight, they may exercise less, causing them to remain overweight.

One way to break this cycle is a summer weight loss camp. Kids and teens who are overweight will find fun ways to exercise, and, perhaps more importantly, accepting friends who are working toward a common goal.

1. Growing portion sizes. Portion sizes have been growing over the years, causing children to eat more than they might realize.
2. School food. Children eat processed food during the school day and have access to vending machines with junk food.
3. Lack of physical activity. Kids spend too much time watching TV and playing video games and not enough time being active.
4. Food advertising and marketing. Children and adolescents are marketed with their favorite characters and TV shows advertising food that’s processed and high in calories.
5. Limited access to healthy and affordable foods. In some areas, fresh, healthy foods are hard to find and parents must turn to convenience stores for food instead of buying fresh fruits and vegetables.
6. Mass production of cheap food. Processed, unhealthy foods and drinks are cheaper than healthier options.
7. Increasing intake of high calorie beverages. More kids drink sodas and juices that are high in sugar and calories.
8. Lack of breast-feeding. Studies show that breast-feeding has some protection against obesity because babies stop eating when they’re full instead of being encouraged to finish the bottle.
9. Less time spent at the dinner table. Families are busier and often parents turn to the convenience of fast food instead of home-cooked meals for dinner.
10. General lack of nutrition education. If parents aren’t aware of healthy eating principles, they can’t teach them to their children.

The reasons for obesity are different for each child and family. Learning good habits, like those promoted at Camp Pocono Trails, are one effective way to help combat some of the contributing factors and to help kids and teens lose weight and keep it off.

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.

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.

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.

“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.