As parents, we can always start instilling the importance of healthy eating at home, but plenty of us would find it difficult to start. Most of us don’t have time to take our kids out to the park on a regular basis or even prepare healthy meals from scratch every night.

If you’re worried about your child’s weight and health, but don’t have any idea where and how to start in teaching him or her healthy habits, then you might want to consider weight loss camps for overweight kids.

Camps for overweight kids such as Camp Pocono trails have become more and more popular over the past few years due to rising issues like obesity and the increasing need for weight loss for kids. And over the years, these camps have proven to be very helpful and effective in their missions.

What Are Weight Loss Camps?
Camps for overweight kids are venues where kids usually stay for several weeks during the summer. Think of it as a typical summer camp, but instead of regular physical activities and fun classes, these camps focus more on healthy eating, exercise and weight loss. The camp is run by staff members who have been trained to handle obese children – these include physical instructors, nutritionists, nurses and behavioral therapists. Your child also gets to be about overweight and obese children who are also there to lose weight, allowing him or her to mingle with other kids his age. They get to form non-judgmental friendships with their peers and not have to go through all the teasing and bullying he would otherwise have to experience in school or anywhere else.

What Do Kids Learn From Weight Loss Camps?
Summer weight loss camps incorporate lessons on proper food choices, healthy eating, and simple cooking classes. Outdoor activities involve games and different sports. Camps for overweight kids like Camp Pocono Trails may have activities such as treasure hunts that encourage children to run around and move. Some weight loss camps have pools and offer swimming classes to those who wish to join them. Sports and physical activities are plentiful, and your child gets to choose the ones that he wants to join in, encouraging his of choice. The aim of the physical activities in weight loss camps isn’t just to help kids drop pounds, but also to increase their strength, flexibility and balance.

Aside from losing weight through exercise, weight loss camps for kids serve as a sheltered environment where they get to learn healthy eating habits, without the pressures of external influences. They learn to get in touch with themselves and relearn even the simple things such as how to choose the right foods, why they should choose the right foods, how much they should eat and why exercising and keeping fit is important. These changes may be small and simple, but altogether they play a vital role in the improvement of your child’s weight and health.

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.

As we all know, losing weight comes down to two things – eating better and exercising more.  That is the formula that has worked for centuries and will continue to work for many more.  For parents of kids trying to lose weight, the common saying of “Do as I say, not as I do” will not work.  Put yourself in their shoes – would you want to sit down to a snack of carrots and celery while the rest of the people snacking with you ate cookies, chips, candy, etc?

So, if you’re making efforts to change the diet of your child, make sure you make similar changes in your diet.  As I mentioned previously, if your kid switches to diet soda or low fat milk, don’t keep regular soda and milk around the house for the rest of the family.  Prepare healthy meals for the entire family and don’t make the diet of one child “special.”  The support you provide by making the same changes as your child will go a long way…and it will benefit your personal health (and the health of the rest of the family) as well.

Since exercise and increased activity levels are equally important, you also need to be a good role model here too.  Set aside more time to play with your kids – take them to the park for a walk or to play on the playground if they’re still at that age.  If they’re a bit older, try things like hikes or playing a game of catch in the back yard.  Or you can do things like go to the local museum or zoo – though not really thought of as forms of exercise, these activities involve a lot of walking around to view the different exhibits – and they can be educational.

Televisions, computers, video games, and other “screens” are also an area where changes will likely need to be made.  Kids today spend more time than ever sitting down playing games, surfing the web, or watching television.  You can make this a family event with things like the Wii Fit that are video games that involve physical activity.  Additionally, be aware of how much time you spend watching TV or using the computer.  Your child will not feel very supported if you tell them they need to go play outside instead of watching TV if they know that you’re just going to watch TV while they’re outside.

Finally, encourage your kids to get involved in activities like organized sports and be supportive by attending their practices and games and providing encouragement.  Also, don’t limit them to the sports that you are familiar with or that you played when you were growing up.  If your kid expresses an interest in something that you’ve never heard of or know little about, make it a learning experience for everyone.

The key is to remain positive.  Summer weight loss camps are successful because they do a great job of removing kids from their “normal” routine, introducing new and fun activities, serving healthy foods, and creating a healthy and supportive environment where making some changes is easy.  With the right mindset and role modeling, parents can be an equally important part of helping their child develop a healthy lifestyle.

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.

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”.

1. Weight Loss Camps

“Fat” camps are a thing of the past. Today’s weight loss and fitness camps for kids offer far more than those stereotypical camps of yester-year. There’s a huge emphasis on self-esteem, self-empowerment, knowledge and living healthy for life as opposed to the fat camps that would have isolated your child and put massive restrictions on their diets. Many kids find these camps to be more about fun than anything else which makes the weight loss part of it much easier.

2. Martial Arts

There are more and more youth karate programs springing up that offer not only the physical fitness benefits of martial arts, but also the great benefits of improving self esteem, self discipline and focus. These are areas that your overweight or obese child may struggle with quite a bit as they face the problems associated with the social stigma of being heavy.

3. Cooking Classes

Most overweight or obese children have an unhealthy obsession with food. We all do to some level as our society has put so much emphasis on food being about comfort and celebration. So, it may seem strange to emphasize anything about food or the enjoyment. Not true. We all have to eat and cooking is something that can be regarded as an art. Finding a children’s cooking course that teaches a child to prepare healthful meals will empower them to make better choices. Why not let your child prepare a few healthful meals per week after they’ve finished the class? There’s no reason you shouldn’t all eat healthfully!