According to the Centers for Disease Control, childhood obesity has increased in the United States by over 300 percent over the past 30 years. To counteract the debilitating effects of this disease, Pennsylvania has four fitness camps designed strictly for juveniles. None of them are in Pittsburgh and only the Wellspring Camp in Saltsburg is within 30 miles of Pittsburgh. Wellspring Pennsylvania restricts eligibility to children ages 11 to 18. The other camps are over 300 miles away in Thompson, Wayne and Poconos.
Diet
Wellspring campers are educated about the importance of healthy food choices and learn to view foods in two categories: controlled and uncontrolled. Learning how to prioritize food at camp helps children make sensible, healthy choices when they go home and go out to eat. "Uncontrolled" foods may be eaten without inhibition and include fruits, vegetables, fat-free yogurt, soup and cottage cheese. In addition, campers learn to cook their favorite foods in a fat-free way without oil or butter.
Exercise
Physical activities incorporated into a typical day at camp are varied and involve a lot of fun. They include stretching, walking, luau parties, swimming relays, water aerobics, dance classes, yoga sessions, fitness center training, weight lifting, rope walking, tennis lessons, river canoeing, indoor basketball and camping outdoors. The goal of these fitness activities is to help campers walk at least 10,000 steps per day. Wellspring campers tend to exceed 20,000 steps per day.
Family Involvement
To help families understand their children's weight loss struggles and promote healthy lifestyle changes at home, Wellspring invites families to attend a two-day workshop. As an incentive for participation, workshop costs are refunded to attendees. To transition children to success at home after program completion, families receive camp tools like pedometers, textbooks, calorie counters and self-monitoring journals. They attend nutrition education classes and cooking demonstrations. In addition, families are offered cognitive behavioral therapy sessions to help their children react to life's challenges and stress.
Costs
Programs are offered in four-, six- and eight-week summer sessions. The tuition for a four-week session is $6,490. The tuition for a six-week session is $8,290. The eight-week session is $9,490. Due to the program's cognitive behavioral therapy sessions and psychological assessments, families with preferred provider organization insurance plans are often reimbursed up to 33 percent of the tuition. Reimbursable family workshop fees are $300, and the refundable year round continuing care program is $600. Wellspring Pennsylvania also helps needy families secure loans.
Continuing Care
Wellspring Pennsylvania's continuing care program supports campers for six months after program completion. Continuing care allows children to maintain relationships with their camp coaches to provide support and monitor progress. The continuing care program fee is fully refundable when campers demonstrate 140 days of recording fat and calories for three food items per day and provide a physician-verified height and weight form.
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