Introduction
As I have shared, I was and still am on the heavier side. When I was a tween, my most insecure period, I tried restrictive diets and rigorous workouts to shed weight. However, my efforts were nothing compared to weight loss camps’ extreme approaches. A documentary was made about an American weight loss camp, Camp Pocono Trails. Using the information it provides, I share my opinion on how ethical weight loss camps are with the intent to be as objective as possible.
Although weight loss camps appear to torture campers, the documentary shares alarming statistics that show we must take action to combat the obesity epidemic: 20% of American children are overweight, and 14 million teenagers are obese while the number was four times smaller 30 years ago. Obese teenagers are 80% likely to maintain their weight without changing their lifestyles. Why does the growing prevalence of obesity matter? In the United States, 300,000 deaths occur annually due to obesity, and the country spends $17 billion a year on healthcare for obese adolescents. Additionally, reviews of popular weight loss camps are overwhelmingly positive although many seem to be by parents, not campers themselves. The crucial question is as follows: are weight loss camps truly doing more harm than good?
Background Information
Run in Pennsylvania since 1992, Camp Pocono Trails is the largest health and wellness camp in the world. Founder and director Tony Sparber claims that weight loss camps have drastically changed to accomplish more than weight loss. Roughly five years ago, Camp Pocono Trails remarketed itself as a health and wellness camp focused on mental and emotional in addition to physical wellbeing. The camp created a program for technology addicts and hired licensed therapists, for instance. It also allows campers to consume more calories than it initially did. Sparber and his wife, Dale, express that their primary goals are “weight loss, self-esteem, and lots of fun.” Numerous weight loss camps have shut down recently, but Sparber is confident that his will last because of its revamp. I am glad that the camp has broadened its focus to help the whole child, but I wonder to what extent it accomplishes its goals.
In early July, hundreds of campers between seven and 25 years old arrive on campus. Some of their weights are life-threatening. A counselor shares that the heaviest camper she has seen weighed between 450 and 500 lbs. Thus, I do feel that weight loss programs must be provided to children in some capacity. Always under the watchful eye of cameras and counselors, campers stay at the camp for three months. They may not enter or exit without asking Sparber. To lose weight, campers engage in sports and other outdoor activities for 20 hours a week.
The First Day
Before campers enter, counselors confiscate their possessions, including their phones. They weigh the campers so that the children know how many pounds they have lost by the end of their stays. However, they may choose not to hear their initial weights.
During campers’ activities, they start with simple movements, yet some already express that they did not expect a summer camp to be so rigorous. At 7 pm, classes end, and campers attend a welcome event led by Sparber. He provides a motivational speech about fitness and the activities campers will experience throughout the rest of their stay. He promises campers that if they take staff’s advice, they will be in the “best physical and mental shape of [their] li[ves]” by departure. Again, Sparber stresses that the camp provides numerous benefits besides weight loss, a feature I appreciate.
Camper Perspectives
Ian
Ian is 19 years old. When he arrived at camp, he weighed roughly 408 lbs. His doctor forced him to attend after diagnosing him with type 2 diabetes. Ian also has joint problems, so when he runs, his knees hurt, and he feels discouraged from doing the activity. The camp’s hope is that Ian continues his improved lifestyle once he returns home.
Amanda
Amanda is 12 years old and almost 200 lbs due to an eating disorder. Her mother, Brenda, gets home at 6 pm, three hours after her daughter, so Amanda snacks on ramen noodles or cereal while she is alone. Afterward, she eats the dinner her mother prepares. As Amanda nears teenagehood, she becomes interested in boys, but she feels nobody is attracted to her due to her weight. She has become quieter since her classmates have ridiculed her, and she is not alone; in the U.S., more than half of overweight children are bullied at school. Brenda’s hope is that the weight loss camp teaches Amanda and herself good habits that they can apply to their daily lives.
Amanda believes she has become depressed because she exhibits many of the symptoms listed online, such as flat emotions and a tendency to overeat. Since Amanda’s eating habits led to her depression, she is caught in a vicious cycle. She claims that she cannot afford a psychiatrist to confirm her depression. Nevertheless, her family has paid for the weight loss camp, which costs $7,900 per person (although the cost depends on the duration of a camper’s stay and can reach $11,990).
Jaylynn
Jaylynn is also 12 years old. At her first weigh-in, she was 241.4 lbs although she is becoming increasingly heavier. Unlike many campers, she chose to attend the weight loss camp. Her mother, who is morbidly obese and has severe breathing issues as well as high blood pressure, agreed to register Jaylynn because she blames herself for her daughter’s weight. She and Jaylynn eat a lot of junk food on a daily basis. In fact, right before Jaylynn’s departure, her mother was admitted to the hospital and put on life support due to her weight. Jaylynn says that her mother’s hospitalization has motivated her even more to achieve a healthy weight. Although Jaylynn’s genetics contribute to her obesity, she also binge-eats.
Zander
Zander is 12 years old and is 141 lbs, but he hopes to drop to 110 lbs by the end of camp. He has always aspired to be an NFL player, but his weight has prevented him from making his football team. Before camp, Zander spent all his free time on his phone. Consequently, he put on more than 22 lbs over the course of two years and has high blood pressure. Screen time largely contributes to childhood obesity and partially explains why it is especially prevalent nowadays, for advanced technology has been invented and popularized. As Amanda is, Zander is teased at school. His mother, Alicia, noticed he was despondent and registered him for camp.
Will
Will is 20 years old, 5’8’’, and 265 lbs. Due to his obesity, Will has severe acne and low self-esteem. He began putting on weight in 11th grade, but weight gain became much more of an issue during his freshman year of college. Will, who consumes junk food for emotional comfort, admits to “eat[ing] [his] feelings,” and his parents suspect he has an eating disorder. Fortunately, he shares that distancing himself from junk food at camp has been very helpful.
Will feels he is single partly due to his weight and resulting confidence issues, for he has trouble approaching girls. He likes to conceal his body with clothes, so he dislikes the water activities that the camp runs for an hour a day. Although he shares that these uncomfortable experiences are teaching him to be more confident in his body, he believes he may revert to covering up his belly in the outside world.
Will has Tourette syndrome and experienced bullying as a child. At camp, he eventually goes to the nurse’s office because he is shunned by his fellow campers, who call him stupid. His mental health is suffering, and he has become more introverted. Thus, he leaves two weeks before the program ends without saying goodbye to anyone. I found it bitterly ironic that children who have been ostracized by their peers would fail to empathize with a fellow outsider. I believe the staff must encourage campers to stay and have conversations about bullying not only to help children see their weight loss efforts through but also to teach kind behavior.
Shame
Sparber shares that he is often asked about the shame associated with attending a weight loss camp. He responds that campers have already been shamed by their communities at home, including their classmates and families. Although attending the program may cause more ridicule, children are treated respectfully at camp and thus gain a safe haven. However, Will’s claims contradict those of Sparber, and other campers have shared that the experience made them feel ashamed of their bodies although it promises to boost self-confidence.
In contrast, William Horn, who was a three-time camper at a Californian weight loss camp, did enjoy that, for once, his weight allowed him to form connections instead of preventing him from making friends. He expresses, “I had never in my life felt so accepted and felt so loved.” Thus, although he despised other aspects of his camp, he did experience the respectful and pleasant environment to which Sparber refers.
Daily Schedule
The Girls’ Camp
The boys and girls are on opposite sides of the campus but can intermingle during their free time. Three times a week, Nina, the head of the girls’ camp, conducts surprise inspections of each room to uncover missing campers, drugs, alcohol, and banned foods after leading a rigid morning routine. The camp immediately removes those caught with forbidden items without a refund. Nina also uses the inspections as opportunities to provide advice on campers’ household chores. I recognize that the camp teaches responsibility while discouraging addiction, but the schedule may be too regimented.
As their first class, the girls perform Zumba aerobics and could burn roughly 800 calories during the hour-long period. Thus, Amanda and Jaylynn could lose up to 7 lbs a week from this class alone. Amanda reports that her legs were very sore during the workout, and Jaylynn must sit down. A counselor encourages Jaylynn to walk around instead of sitting if she needs a break, for the campers may not fully rest during classes.
The Boys’ Camp
Meanwhile, on the boys’ side, campers, regardless of their weight and age, participate in military training. In 100°F weather, some campers wish to sit out of the activity. However, similar to the counselor who talked to Jaylynn, the boys’ counselor forces them to walk laps around the field if they do not participate. Strictly prohibiting short breaks seems too extreme to me. If anything, the camp makes attendees dread exercise, and they could feel faint in such hot weather.
Some campers share privately that they feel they perform too many activities in a single day. Although they acknowledge that the camp’s job is to challenge campers, they feel that counselors sometimes push them too far and eliminate all enjoyment. Jackie Schwartz, a camper in the early 2000s, shared her experiences at Camp Pocono Trails with Teen Vogue. Schwartz reported that she felt fatigued after workouts and despised the fact that they were nonstop. However, for the most part, adults who faced childhood obesity have designed the classes, so they should understand campers’ physical capabilities. For instance, the Zumba aerobics instructor was a camper at the weight loss camp as a child. Although she is no longer obese, she enjoys continuing her fitness journey with her campers. Sparber was also obese.
Mike, the leader of the boys’ camp, ensures that all campers are in bed by the 9 pm curfew. Children sometimes try to escape at night. Mike expresses that these situations are frightening, especially when campers seem suicidal or could harm others. A teenager is twice as likely to be depressed and suicidal if they are obese.
Zander and other campers participate in activities about self-esteem once a week, for although he is one of the lighter campers, he is more insecure. I question how effective these activities are, for many campers continue to struggle with their body image after attending. Zander claims that although Ian is on the heavier side, he does not struggle with self-esteem issues. Ian agrees that he is content with himself partly because of his family. As Ian demonstrates, interestingly enough, your home environment can play a larger role in your self-esteem than your weight.
Food
Everyone eats lunch at 12 pm. The camp serves only fresh, not processed, and grilled, not fried, food. The head chef, Roland Wilder, is also a weight trainer for young people and owns a gym, Wilder Wellness. Campers eat five meals and two snacks a day. Each meal consists of a starter, main course, and dessert, and counselors determine portion sizes. The meals cannot exceed 700 calories, the calories in a burger, while before camp, Ian could eat over four burgers in one day.
While the average American consumes nearly 4,000 calories a day, women and teenagers should intake roughly 1,600 to 2,400 calories while men should intake 2,000 to 3,000. Sparber told Teen Vogue that campers’ goal is to lose two-to-four pounds a week by consuming roughly 1,700 calories daily. Other weight loss camps have lower caloric limits, such as 1,400 to 1,600. Thus, I do think that, in general, weight loss camps should slightly boost the number of calories they allow their campers to consume. A more modest decrease in caloric intake may result in a more sustainable approach campers can replicate at home.
Camper Opinions
Ian reports that he tends to enjoy the camp’s food. Campers are not completely denied sugar and fat. Dessert options are jelly and vanilla ice cream, which, in addition to the two snacks, surprised Zander. He shares that the camp focuses on controlling portion sizes and ensuring that mealtimes are consistent rather than limiting food options. However, Schwartz disliked the diets, comprising healthy versions of desirable foods (tofu ice cream, SnackWell’s cookies, sugar-free Jello, pita pizza, etc.), imposed on campers. Consequently, Schwartz developed an eating disorder. Upon her return from camp, she was complimented on her body, but she was miserable. She tried crash diets and became “obsessed” with food. Overall, the camp permanently ruined her relationship with food.
Although specialists have acknowledged that limits on teens’ caloric intakes will likely help them lose weight, they claim that weight loss camps cause campers to think poorly of their bodies. Jennifer Harriger, the Associate Professor of Psychology at Pepperdine University, states, “It seems that these camps are perpetuating the message that the child’s body is the problem, rather than our culture’s perception of bodies.” I slightly disagree with Harriger, for I do feel that obese children’s bodies are problematic. After all, they cause health issues and increase the risk of premature deaths. However, Harriger’s statement holds some validity. Schwartz felt that she had acted improperly to warrant the “punish[ment]” of weight loss camp, an excessive amount of guilt. Obese children should not feel that they are solely at fault for their health issues. Beyond their families’ potential role, America, in addition to other countries, is an obesogenic environment.
Taylor Kay Phillips also attended Camp Pocono Trails but by choice. (In fact, her parents did not want her to attend). She was also unique in that she was not obese as her fellow campers were. As a competitive athlete, she hoped to achieve her teammates’ bodies. She sought a structured daily routine, but she called the program a “military boot camp.” Phillips shares that campers who had shed considerable weight or were attending with their overweight siblings wore wrist bands that signified they were allowed to consume more food, an approach Sparber admits the camp still uses. Overall, I feel the camp encourages children to develop an unhealthy perception of themselves and food, and this tradition of separating body types deemed ideal from those deemed problematic is part of the issue.
Nevertheless, the camp does have a positive effect. In less than a month, Amanda, Zander, Ian, and Jaylynn have lost between 4 and 8 kg, or between roughly 9 and 18 lbs.
A Month Later . . .
The documentary crew returns. Once a week, counselors give back campers’ phones so they can make a call for a maximum of 15 minutes. When Amanda calls her mother, Brenda informs her that she has stopped exercising and eats solely fast food at home. Thus, she has put on a lot of weight. She expresses that Amanda must return so that she can be around people. Before her daughter left for camp, Brenda did engage in activities, but now she claims she has “nothing to do.” Amanda deeply misses her mother and wants to help her by imparting the knowledge she has gained from camp. None of the campers have been away from their parents for such an extended period of time.
Sparber expresses that parents commonly email him with complaints, for their children have informed them they are unhappy and want to go home. He claims that they are simply emotional because they miss their parents so much. I wonder if the camp’s approach is appropriate for such young children. The number of restrictions create an environment that is very unlike home life. Thus, not only are campers more likely to despise the experience, but the lifestyle is less likely to be replicable. For instance, parents could cause their children to regress once they return. Rather than trusting the children to educate their parents after the program, the camp could separate parents and children but keep them on the same premises and involve them in similar activities. It does offer Moms Camp and Family Camp but for only a fourth of the duration. I think parental education should be built into the main program to improve its quality.
Jaylynn cannot reach her mother because she will remain in the hospital for surgery until the upcoming Sunday. The camp allows Jaylynn to try calling again the following day, but she is missing the next morning. She had to leave camp in the middle of the night because her mother’s health declined. Nina shares that when campers cannot stay for the full duration of the program, the camp gives them a nutrition book and advice for shifting from camp to home life. I love this idea but worry that it is not enough to withstand obesogenic home environments.
Parents’ In-Person Visit
A few days later, parents see their children for 24 hours, the only visit allowed throughout the campers’ stays. First, the parents are searched to ensure they do not bring outside food, for instance.
The campers’ day away from camp is a test, for they can eat whatever they please. I question how effective the camp is in teaching campers to make healthy decisions independently, for Will orders a burger, but his mother permits him to eat only half. She expresses that the family does not have a lot of junk food at their house, but Will is allowed to buy such food and eat at fast food restaurants with his friends. Since Will misses home and is bullied at camp, he tells his family that he wants to quit. However, his father is not concerned about Will’s dismal experience. He agrees with Sparber that Will is “emotionally and physically spent” and is thus exaggerating. Immediately after their meal, he takes his son back to camp (although, as mentioned, Will eventually departs early).
The Last Day
On the last day, campers participate in the Camp Pocono Trails 5K, a race through the camp, with the goal of running three miles in less than an hour. This test is the same for getting on Zander’s football team, so he is determined to rise to the challenge. He finishes the race with a time of 41:49 and is thus at the front of the pack. All campers finish the race despite the fact that some could not run a few weeks prior. Zander claims he will do more 5Ks at home before advancing to half-marathons and eventually marathons.
Amanda leads her Zumba class. She thinks she looks “gorgeous” compared to her previous appearance.
The final test for campers is their last weigh-in. Ian has gone from weighing 408 to 375 lbs, but he must lose more weight once he arrives home to be healthy. Right after camp, Ian plans to find a job and then move in with his boyfriend. Overall, he hopes to get a “new start.” Initially, Amanda weighed 194 lbs, but she now weighs 166.4 lbs. She is shocked and ecstatic that she lost the exact amount she wanted to and states that her life will change drastically. Amanda concludes that she likes camp and thus will miss it. Zander lost 18 lbs although he expected to lose more, for his goal is 110 to 120 lbs, but he is only a few pounds away from the latter. Finally, Will lost 30 lbs at camp. Overall, the camp does seem to have encouraged campers to set healthy goals for their futures.
After Camp
Once families see their children, they are all stunned by the changes to their bodies. Brenda exclaims that her daughter “looks amazing.” Six months after the end of camp, Ian’s health is improving, and Amanda has continued her healthy diet as well as gotten into fashion. Jaylynn has not lost weight, but her mother is back home and better. Zander has maintained good health and thus made the American football team. Will exercises and studies psychology.
Conclusion
Let’s revisit the Sparbers’ three main goals: “weight loss, self-esteem, and lots of fun.” Regarding their first goal, some campers lose weight but then return to the camp the following summer having regained it. Traci Mann, a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota and the founder of the Mann Lab, believes that diets are ineffective, for many regress after short-term weight loss. Limiting the calories you consume can alter your metabolism in ways that make you more likely to gain weight. Your body simply aims to keep you alive, so it metabolizes food less quickly if it notices a decrease in caloric intake. Dieting also has adverse effects on your hormonal functions and relationship with food, for you are constantly thinking about it. Since caloric limits make food feel like more of a “reward” and thus increase cravings, diets are difficult to maintain.
Regarding self-esteem and fun, former campers seem to have become more ashamed of their bodies and had a miserable experience. Phillips shares that the camp environment is difficult to replicate in the real world, an issue the staff never addressed. What I find so saddening is that many families’ primary goal is to alter their lifestyles by bringing the camp’s practices into their homes. Schwartz shares that kids should not concentrate on their bodies so much, for their negative self-perceptions will endure.
Although Sparber attributes the eating disorders of Schwartz and other campers to different factors, Harriger worries that campers will define their self-worth by their weight. Campers who become ashamed of their bodies may be less likely to seek healthcare for fear of criticism. While overweight people are, in fact, less likely to obtain quality healthcare as well as higher-paying jobs, they should have the confidence to try to better their futures, and we should support their efforts.