The trend towards sending kids to weight loss camps accelerated in the first decade of the 21st century, and for good reason. According to the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity report, about one in three children in the United States is either overweight or obese. Most weight loss camps for children and teens are geared toward kids who are 18 years old or younger, and most of these camps are coed. However, there are at least two well-known weight loss camps for college-age women between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Both Wellspring Camps and Camp Shane offer programs in the summer for college-age women who want to lose weight and learn healthy eating habits to keep the weight off after they return to campus and for the rest of their lives.
Fat Camps
Camps such as Wellspring and Camp Shane distinguish themselves from so-called "fat farms," where the goal for campers is to lose lots of weight quickly. Wellspring says that it is different for three reasons. First, its programs are scientifically based, put together by top researchers and health experts. Second, unlike fat camps, Wellspring focuses on behavioral changes that will lead to long-term weight loss. Third, insurance pays for some of the expenses of Wellspring because the cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, element of the treatment is covered by some policies.
Young Women Only
Wellspring and Shane Island's camps for college-age women and for girls and young women from 11 to 18 years are restricted to girls and young women to allow them to feel more free. Coed camps can be intimidating to young women who are self-conscious about their weight, to the point they choose not to participate in physical activities or wear athletic clothes such as bathing suits. The all-female setting also allows the counselors to focus on specific issues that overweight young women encounter on campus while encouraging the young women to have fun and derive self-confidence from each other. There are fewer distractions for young women at a camp without young men as well.
Camp Life
Camps run anywhere from three to nine weeks at Camp Shane. Campers can choose from more than 50 different physical fitness activities, ranging from archery to wakeboarding. The idea is to help young women find activities that are fun so they stick with them when they go back to campus. Between exercise activities, campers participate in classes involving nutrition, cooking and CBT, all geared at giving them life skills to sustain or increase weight loss after they are back at school. Behavior modification is also taught at Wellspring camps, aimed at installing lifelong habits of healthy eating. Daily menus include a stringent 1,200 calories of foods that young women like to eat but prepared in a more healthy way, such as baked instead of fried chicken fingers. There is also an "uncontrolled table," with fruits and vegetable, and campers can eat as much as they desire.
Considerations
Camps such as Wellspring and Shane Island are not cheap. A month-long stay at Wellspring costs more than $6,000, and only about 20 percent of that amount might be reimbursed by your insurance company. Such camps have their critics as well. TCU associate professor of education Deborah Rhea worries that summer camps might fall into the quick-fix mentality so prevalent in America early in the 21st century. However, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reported in 2010 that obesity programs can be effective and recommended camps for kids who are overweight.
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