To Fat Camp, and Back Again

"I can't believe our parents did this to us again," my sister said. "It's not just that they did it, it's that they did it again."

In the silly children's book Fat Commandos Go West, Sylvia Nebula grumbles about getting sent to "fat camp" two years in a row. She and her brother did not lose any weight last summer at Camp Noo Yoo, and they made it clear to their parents that they hated every minute of it. So why did their parents send them to the new fat camp DeepDip Cha Cha's Ashram this year? The kids knew they weren't going to lose weight there, either.

Believe it or not, author Daniel Pinkwater is on to something. Old-style fat camps simply do not work.

Although reliable statistics on fat camps are hard to come by, most experts believe that the vast majority of campers regain every pound they lost, and then some. At some of the older fat camps, the number of repeat customers consistently hovers around 50 percent. Many of these camps have been in business long enough to be serving second-generation campers from the same families. There is, however, a new generation of weight-loss camps that has helped overweight youth keep off the weight. For example, last year Wellspring camps' rate of return was less than two percent, proving that the right weight-loss camp can achieve lasting changes while old-style fat camps only make matters worse.

At many old-style fat camps, even the counselors have not successfully managed their own weight. Many are working without pay for the chance to lose weight themselves. In her memoir of life at these fat camps, Abby Ellin recalls counselor Ted Donnelly. Ted spent over 20 years working or attending fat camps. In the course of those two decades, he lost and regained over 400 pounds.

"It was his mission in life to return to camp. He returns to camp every year like Charlotte's three offspring in Charlotte's Web, who simply cannot abandon Wilbur after their mother dies," she writes.

According to Ellin, the average camper lost 35 pounds over the summer, only to regain 40 pounds during the school year. This statistic makes sense - scientists have already shown that dieting tends to cause long-term weight gain, not loss. In one study of more than 14,000 children by Harvard professor and pediatrician Dr. Alison Field, children who went on diets actually gained more weight over time than those who did not.

Old-style fat camps fail, in part, because they do not address the emotional issues surrounding the problem of overeating. Many overweight children need counseling and behavioral therapy in order to make lasting lifestyle changes. In addition, a number of old-style fat camps do not involve parents and family members in the child's efforts to remain slim once she returns home. They do not educate children about how to make healthy food choices at home and at restaurants, or teach them the importance of physical activity as a way to stay fit.

When parents send their child to old-style fat camps, they send their child away to get rid of the fat. Since external body fat is seen as the only problem, you get rid of the fat and you get rid of the problem. Operating under that theory, fat camps offer children a short-term fix with no long-term solutions.

Consider what a typical day at an old-style fat camp in the 1980s was like, as depicted in The New York Times:

"Our typical day at Camp Colang begins with wake-up music at 7:45 a.m. The captive audience hears "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah," as sung by (director) Tony Sparber. After breakfast and bunk inspection, there is a full day of sports and exercise classes... The day ends after dinner with a movie or games." Children eat three measured meals a day with no snacks or second helpings.
After a summer like this, a camper has learned nothing about how to choose healthy foods or how to incorporate physical activity into daily life. He may lose weight, but he is no better-off than when he arrived at camp.

As Ellin writes, very few campers could successfully keep their weight off at fat camp because they came home to their old lifestyles. "Who goes home and does aerobics and calisthenics for six mornings a week, and swims, runs and hikes six afternoons a week? How many families are willing to change an entire household to accommodate a child in need?" No wonder the rate of return to camp was high.

The children in Fat Commandos Go West returned to the same fat camp two summers in a row because the camp failed them the year before. The old-style fat camp approach cannot possibly help a child achieve permanent weight loss and physical fitness. Parents who truly want to help their children shed the extra pounds should look into newer, more comprehensive weight-loss camps and programs, not old-style fat camps.

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