Mustillo analyzed ten years of data on upwards of 2,000 black and white girls.

Mustillo can’t say exactly why the effects of obesity-related stigma lingered for the white girls, but not the black. That’s a subject for future study.

New Image Camps makes self-esteem a top priority and focuses on making self-esteem an essential step in their four step summer teen weight loss camp.

New Image Camps philosophy:

From the moment campers arrive, they are treated with respect and caring
by our highly trained staff who are all devoted to the New Image philosophy:

1. Provide an environment where weight loss is an integral part of the summer camp experience

2. Promote health, wellness, integrity and learning

3. Build self-esteem and lasting friendships

4. Ensure individualized attention that yields results

Looking for a solution to this epidemic, some teens are turning to drastic measures normally reserved for adults. Teens are pursuing bariatric surgery—a variety of procedures that includes gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic gastric banding, commonly known as lap band.

These extreme measures have drastic results, but also require some very intense lifestyle changes. The surgery forces people to permanently give up caffeine sources such as pop and coffee, to eat much smaller portions and often take a variety of vitamin supplements. In addition, not a lot is known about the long-term effects of the surgery, so if adverse effects occur, teens could be especially vulnerable later in life.

Before considering such major life changes, teens should try exercise and healthy diet to combat their obesity problem. Changing daily habits takes time, and may not have the quick results that bariatric surgery has. However, healthy eating and exercise is actually less restrictive and much less dangerous than surgery. Caffeine and other treats can continue to be enjoyed, in moderation, and vitamin deficiencies (as long as a variety of healthful foods are eaten) are not a concern.

One way to jump start weight loss for teens is to send them to a weight loss camp, such as Camp Pocono Trails. At camp, teens learn healthy habits, discover new ways to be active and make lifelong friends. One summer can make a dramatic difference in teen weight loss success!

Get your kids excited about eating better by involving them in meal planning, shopping, and cooking. This gives your kids less of a feeling that a diet is being “forced” on them and gets them more invested in the efforts.

Try increasing their exercise levels with incentives or by finding fun activities that they will not consider “exercise.” Most kids (even kids that are not overweight) cringe when they hear the word “exercise.” If your kid would rather spend hours watching TV, make them “earn” some TV time by exercising. Also keep in mind that “exercise” doesn’t have to be things like jumping rope, doing sit-ups, and so on – anything that gets kids active is exercise. Taking a bike ride, jumping on a trampoline, throwing a football around, even vacuuming the house!

The key is to get your kids invested in the weight loss effort and creating a supportive environment. This is what makes our weight loss camps so successful, but is also the kinds of things that can be done at home. Fun exercise. Healthy dieting. It really is that simple.

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.