Fat Camps vs. Weight Loss Camps
— What's the Difference?

In the Disney movie "Heavyweights," overweight boys are sent away to a "fat camp" against their will. They go through one humiliation after another - a disastrous competition against a team of buff boys, degrading weigh-ins and "before" pictures, starvation diets, and silly aerobics routines. By the end of the movie, the boys capture their tyrannical director and force their parents to watch a video about what Camp Hope is really like.

You find a similar plot in the Fat Commandos books by Daniel Pinkwater. In this series, the kids escape the horror of fat camp to work as social activists for "fat acceptance." They ask adults sensible questions like, "Why are there thousands of diet books? If they worked and made people thin, there would only be one."

The children in "Heavyweights" and Fat Commandos are eons ahead of their adult tormentors. They know that fat camps are punishing and humiliating, and do not produce lasting results.

Based on recent trends, it appears as though someone is finally listening to the kids. In the past few years, parents have started refusing to pay for old-style fat camps that don't produce long-term results and only serve to frustrate their children.

The New Weight Loss Camp

Today, there is a new style of weight loss camp based not on regimented diets and extreme calisthenics, but science. Even Abby Ellin, a former fat camp refugee and vocal critic of their methods, admits to being impressed by the new weight loss camps. In her book Teen Waistland, she writes, "It was a different model from the regular weight loss camp, something revolutionary." She describes how one such program, Wellspring Camps, "assembled a group of high-level players in the obesity field to sit on their advisory board. Every camper monitored his or her own eating, jotting down foods, calories, and fat grams in a little journal. They were given pedometers and aimed for at least 10,000 steps a day. Most important, they regulated their food intake, not a counselor - an important distinction."

Wellspring campers also participate in a six-month aftercare program in which the clinical counselors, known as Behavioral Coaches, continue to communicate with each camper on-line. By helping campers transition from camp to their everyday lives, the unique aftercare program gives campers the opportunity to turn their new weight-controlling skills into habits, and allows campers to continue the strong relationships they built with Behavioral Coaches and with camp friends.

Behavioral Changes

The new "weight loss camps" are not necessarily about weight loss, even though the average camper loses about four pounds a week during a session. Instead, Wellspring emphasizes behavioral changes. The professionals that run the camps know that the difference between being slim or fat is often about subtle changes. You can still have chocolate, but it will be a low-fat version. You don't have to spend hours doing push-ups, but you may want to walk to school instead of riding the bus. Many times, the key to success is discovering that you actually enjoy a sport.

In this "super-size me" era, most campers also have to learn what an appropriate portion of food is for their body sizes. At some camps, children weigh and measure foods in order to gain a sense of proper portion size. Many children also benefit from counseling sessions that address emotional issues, such as being bullied or eating to relieve stress.
The New York Times published a 2005 article that criticized old-style fat camps because "they are too short to change a lifetime of habits," but praised the new weight loss camps as "promising programs," again highlighting the Wellspring program and their renowned approach to fitness and weight loss.

"Unlike traditional weight loss camps, Wellspring uses a cognitive behavioral approach. Campers set goals and monitor themselves, techniques that are components of behavior modification, one of the most widely accepted approaches to long-term weight success. The camps have had encouraging results. A recent study by Wellspring found that 91% of campers had maintained the weight or continued to lose six months after camp ended." Maybe some kids have finally found the real "Camp Hope."