Dealing with the Realities of Fat Camp

Right now, thousands of overweight children are away at fat camp. They are expecting to lose weight, have fun and gain self-esteem; and that is just what the camps promote. Some kids went by choice and others were told to go, and right now many of them probably wish it was over. You would too if you knew what was really going on at many of these camps, or perhaps you do know if you watched MTV’s Real World Fat Camp episodes this past winter. What I watched made me cringe and worry about the impact the experience was going to have on these young people long-term.

They had to be publicly weighed and measured, and many were clearly upset by the experience. It would seem to me the last thing you would do is set the stage for more shame in a kid who is overweight, since self-criticism and self-hatred are drivers of emotional eating, low self-confidence and exercise ambivalence.

All the girsl and boys, even those at four hundred pounds, were required to perform high exertion exercises while out in the heat and sun. No personal trainer I know would do that with unconditioned adults, much less those who are obese. Not only is this risky, many of the children were clearly miserable and struggling with what was being asked of them. Again I had to wonder what the mental and emotional impact of doing extreme boot camp-style exercising would be on these girls and boys.

As I continued to watch the show the children dealt with another challenge. To eat, they had to climb a steep hill where the food hall was located. The kids hated this hill and many of them opted not to eat to avoid climbing it. No surprise, all they talked about was food and how hungry they felt. They were obsessed with finding ways to get food they couldn’t have. The emotional impact of being deprived and feeling guilty when eating forbidden food is a primary cause of overeating and bingeing that can last a lifetime. It seemed to me this camp was setting the stage for long-term dysfunctional eating and not a healthy relationship with food or good nutritional habits.

The reality of most fat camps is they are doing more damage than good, yet the MTV reality show was such a hit that Camp Pocono Trails is having one its best summers ever.

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