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For years weight loss camps for kids were filled will teen age boys and girls who were willing to eat sparingly and exercise dutifully for a few weeks in exchange for quick weight loss. These programs were often advertised as “diet camps” and nothing more.

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the past twenty years. Children haven’t changed but their eating habits and activity levels have undergone drastic changes. Fast food has become a way of life for many time stressed families and sugar laden drinks are no longer a treat but have become part of the daily diet. Video games and computers have replaced outdoor activities and children are delivered to and from school and activities by car even for distances of a few blocks.

The results of this lifestyle are obvious. Chubby toddlers turn into pudgy kids then become overweight teens and obese young adults. The new weight loss camps are designed to break this cycle. They reject the title “fat camps” and describe their programs as “lifestyle weight loss” or “fitness camps“.

The best weight loss camp for any child is the one where he will become engaged in the process and learn to change his eating habits and his exercise routine in a way that will benefit him long after camp is over. The goal of fitness camp is to teach kids the relationships between eating and exercise. Weight loss is about calories taken in versus calories expended and understanding that relationship is crucial to establishing a healthier lifestyle.

One big advantage of time spent in a fitness focused “fat camp” for kids is the ability to exercise with others who have the same limitations. It’s difficult for an overweight child to keep up with normal weight friends in a typical gym class and often he doesn’t try. In a group of kids with the same weight problems he lives with, the obese child is more likely to expend effort and try to do as much as he can. The fear of being ridiculed or of appearing clumsy is gone and the only competition is with others who are struggling just as he is.

Physical activities are no longer a source of fear and shame. They become real competitions when all participants are well matched. Rude comments and pitying looks are replaced with encouragement and the excitement of other kids cheering you on.

Nothing makes a child feel more self confident than knowing he tried hard and did his best – and it was good enough. A week, a month, or a summer at a weight loss camp will not undo years of overeating and sedentary behavior but it can start an obese child or teen on the path to a healthier future.

Making Weight Loss a Family Affair – Part II

October 22, 2009 by matt

Parents who want to help their child lose weight at home before or after the child attends a weight loss camp must often undo problems they (the parent) caused. If they allowed the child to dictate what he ate without restriction it will take time to establish nutritional rules. It may also require the full cooperation of every member of the family. A child who is not allowed to have sweets will feel only frustration if he knows a locked cabinet is filled with sweet snacks that other family members are eating. He feels deprived, unloved and mistreated and will not be able to focus on solving his own weight problem.

The first step to establishing a good diet is to toss out all foods that do not contribute to the nutritional plan for your child. Most of that junk food isn’t healthy for anyone in the family and if necessary can be eaten away from the home. If your overweight child is demanding on a grocery trip, don’t take him with you. Older children might benefit from a grocery buying trip where you explain and compare ingredients and labels (and calories, sugar and sodium).

Establish family meals where healthy foods are served. No one in the family will suffer because food is not fried or sauced. Instead, the entire family will receive positive health benefits from eating a balanced low fat diet. Changing the eating habits of the entire family will provide the overweight child with the greatest chance of success.

Instead of watching television or playing video games with your obese child, go for a walk with him. If you drive your child to school, drop him off at the curb rather than at the front door of the school. Take your child places where walking is required such as a zoo or aquarium. Organize family weekend activities of swimming or camping. Children are easily motivated to participate in a project to “improve our family’s health” but may drag their feet reluctantly when the subject is “you need to lose weight”.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: diet, exercise, family weight loss, healthy weight loss for kids, weight loss camp, weight loss for kids

Reality TV Show Films at Camp Pocono Trails

September 15, 2009 by matt

Our weight loss camp hosted the popular shows on MTV – “Fat Camp” and “Return to Fat Camp” in 2006 and 2007. We’ve also been featured on Good Morning America. This year, we were happy to be featured on the Style Network’s show “Ruby.” Michael Sadowski of the Pocono Record had a featured story about Ruby’s visit to our camp:

Workers at Camp Pocono Trails know the drill when it comes to having television cameras on their grounds.

The camp has been featured in MTV documentaries and on “Good Morning America” in recent years.

So when weight-loss hopeful and reality show star Ruby Gettinger brought her show to the Reeders camp in June, it was business as usual for camp director and founder Tony Sparber.

“We’re not strangers to having cameras at the camp,” he said. “We’re very media-friendly, we’re very proud of what we do. We’ve had times where we’ve had cameras on us from eight in the morning to 10 at night, so we’re used to it.”

And for someone bringing a message like Ruby — whose self-titled reality show just wrapped up its second season on the Style Network — Sparber was happy to bring the cameras back for another taping.

You can read the entire article here.

If you’d like more information about our successful weight loss camps, please feel free to contact us.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: fat camp, ruby, television, tv, weight loss camp

The Factors, Risks, and Solutions to Childhood Obesity

June 25, 2009 by matt

“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: child health, childhood obesity, teen obesity, weight loss camp

Weight Loss Camps Benefit Parents As Well

May 28, 2009 by matt

If you’re a parent of an overweight child and are considering a summer weight loss camp to help them, you’ve made a good choice. Weight loss camps can be extremely beneficial for children in helping them learn ways to eat healthier and find exercise activities that they enjoy. However, what some parents don’t realize is that they can also benefit from sending their kids to a weight loss camp.

Many parents of overweight children do not consider weight loss camps as their first option. In most cases, they try to do things at home to help their children – forcing them to diet, signing them up for sports teams, and so on. These things are good, and can be effective, but often are not.

The reason that a number of these strategies do not work is because kids learn more from what they see their parents do versus what their parents tell them to do. A few years ago, after witnessing one of my superiors at my job make a critical mistake, he pulled me aside and said “Do as I say, not as I do.”

Unfortunately, this is how too many parents live with their children. It’s difficult to enforce a diet or exercise routine on your children if you don’t “walk the walk” yourself. This is where parents can benefit from sending their kids to weight loss camp.

At camp, your kids will learn how to “walk the walk” in an environment that isn’t home, which is why they can be so successful. A change in scenery is a great way to make dramatic changes in your lifestyle, and many parents of past campers report that they’ve learned from their children who have returned home.

Additionally, families can use the time that their child is away to make some changes at home. They can begin eating better and exercising more, which will benefit their personal health as well as make a more comfortable and supportive environment for their child to return to.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: summer weight loss camp, weight loss camp

Can Weight Loss Camps Save You Money?

May 19, 2009 by matt

Though weight loss camps for kids may seem like an expense you can avoid, you might reconsider when take into account the rest of the factors.

Food Costs for Your Overweight or Obese Child

It’s difficult enough to keep up with the rising costs of groceries, but when your child has eating issues, they may literally eat you out of house and home. In this regard, a weight loss camp can help your child control his or her eating.

A parent once told me how her grocery bill went down after her daughter attended our weight loss and fitness camp last summer. The daughter had been sneaking food and the weight loss camp empowered her to make better choices. Instead of filling your pantry with inexpensive food to keep up, you’ll be able to buy less, save and even make healthier purchases.

Medical Bills

It’s hard to say exactly when your child’s weight troubles will begin to cost you or your child (if it happens when they are older) money in the medical department. Rest assured, it will eventually. Type II diabetes is affecting more and more children and adolescents. The medical expenses for diabetes are outrageous!

Your child will learn how to get their weight under control at our weight loss camp. With every step they take, their risks for developing heart disease and other weight related health issues will diminish. Besides, we all want our children to be healthy!

Entertainment Costs

Trying to find things to occupy your child can be quite expensive, especially if your child enjoys sedentary activities such as gaming or computers. Games are extremely pricey and trying to keep up with these costs can be crazy! Summer weight loss camps can help your child learn to enjoy activities that involve more exercise and less cost such as riding their bikes, swimming, or just playing around outside. They’ll also get to try some new activities that they haven’t experienced – like hitting golf balls on our driving range or climbing on our ropes course.

When you consider these costs and also account for the fact that your child will have an opportunity to make some great strides in their struggle to live at a healthy weight for the rest of their life – a summer weight loss camp doesn’t sound like a bad investment after all, does it?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: fitness camp, summer weight loss camp, weight loss camp, weight loss camps

Are Weight Loss Camps The Right Solution for Your Child?

April 14, 2009 by matt

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: child weight loss, childhood obesity, children, family, fitness camp, health, teen weight loss, teen weight loss camp, weight loss camp

Why Weight Loss Camps are More Successful that Restrictive Diets

March 25, 2009 by matt

Many parents are quick to forget what life is like as a teenager. There are a number of academic and social pressures to deal with as well as some fairly major changes in hormone levels taking place. Toss in the facts that the bodies of teenagers grow at the fastest rate that they have since birth and that critical decision making and problem solving abilities are being developed, and you remember how much a teenager has on his or her plate every day. With so much going on and a society that worships physical fitness and beauty and you can see why it is often difficult for kids and teens to learn how to make good decisions when it comes to eating and exercising and how specialized the skill sets are of individuals that operate successful weight loss camps.

Teenagers are especially succeptable to getting too caught up in issues of personal image. As a result, many teenagers these days regularly resort to restrictive diets and strive to maintain a “perfect” body. We’re all aware that in a few years they will more than likey give up their pursuit for a perfect body as there is not really such a thing, yet more and more teens each year turn to dieting as a short term way to obtain a desired look. (NOTE: by “dieting” I am referring to restrictive ‘diets’ that should not be confused with healthy eating habits or a healthy ‘diet.’)

There are a number of reasons that strict diets typically fail in the short term and rarely, if ever, work in the long term for teenagers. Even children that are overweight will not achieve long-term success from a restrictive diet. Here’s why:

First, making abrupt changes to food intake by restricting how much food is eaten will disrupt a child’s energy balance and their natural ability to regulate food intake, leading to problems down the road.

Second, studies show that a majority of overweight adults who used dieting as their only weight control method in their teenage years gained that weight back.

Instead of restrictive dieting, kids and teens will be much more successful by eating healthy diets and exercising regularly

Third, many “hot” diets that teens are drawn to are quick weight loss diets that limit the intake of certain food groups, nutrients, etc. For a growing body, these restictions can be bad and can stunt growth or cause imbalances in their development which can affect their performance in school or other areas of life. Bigger problems can develop later as a result.

Finally, some teenagers suffer from more serious conditions (e.g. depression) and use their weight issues and dieting as a means to hide or supress the true issues that the child feels they cannot control. Since the true problem is never addressed with a diet, it never goes away and continues to cause problems for the child later in life.

For these reasons, parents should be wary if/when their child tells them they want to go on a diet. The bottom line is that restrictive diets as a means to lose weight in teenagers are never worth it. Their chances for short term success are slim and it is more likely that they are actually doing something that is worse for their body.

If the child needs to lose weight, parents should consider a weight loss program similar to those used at teen weight loss camps where healthy eating is combined with exercise via fun activities. These fitness camps remove kids and teens from their regular lives and free them from having to deal with the extra pressures that teenagers struggle with. At the weight loss camp, kids are able to focus on learning healthy living habits while not having to worry about everything else that they struggle with at home. Once the good habits are developed at camp, they return home where the new habits become a part of their daily lives.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: dieting, fat camp, fitness camp, teen diet, teen weight loss, weight loss camp

Explaining Weight Loss Camp to your Child

March 18, 2009 by matt

If you’re considering sending your child to weight loss camp this summer and have not discussed it with them yet, you may be wondering what the best approach is to take in “breaking the news.” Consider how this decision will be interpreted by your child. They have likely heard the horror stories associated with “fat camps” and will probably be resistant to the idea. It is also important that they understand that you’re sending them to camp out of love and care for them, not because you want to get rid of them or you do not like the person that they are.

In a child’s mind, especially younger children, it is difficult for them to understand that a fitness camp is something that is going to benefit them for the rest of their lives. Instead, they may view it as “punishment” for being overweight.

Therefore, it is your responsibility as a parent to explain to your child why they will be attending. You will know better than anyone else how well your child will be able to comprehend the potential health risks that are associated with obesity in children and whether or not it is even worth it to try and explain these things to your child.

In some cases, it is best to focus on the fun that your child will have when “selling” them on the idea. Focusing on the fun will help to ease your child’s apprehension about the fitness camp. And, of course, the less apprehensive your child is about going, the less you’ll be concerned about their success and less likely you will be to put unnecessary pressure on them.

The most important part about having this conversation with your child is making sure that your child does not feel like they’re being sent off as a form of punishment. Yes, they are going because they need help getting the weight loss process started, but who was the parent that let them get overweight in the first place? Frame the experience as an opportunity to spend a lot of time outside, meet new friends, and learn new fun games and activities that they enjoy. Answer any questions that they have about the weight loss camp honestly and positively and work to build a sense of excitement about the program. The bottom line is that the more excited and comfortable your child is, the more successful they will be.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: fat camp, fitness camp, teen weight loss, weight loss camp

Parents Must Do Their Part at Home, Too

March 12, 2009 by matt

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: childhood obesity, summer weight loss camp for kids, weight loss camp

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