Health is a big concern today – both for individuals and our planet. Childhood obesity rates continue to climb as do concerns about global warming and the long-term health of the world we live in. The good news is that you can kill two birds with one stone by taking the right green living steps, some of which are found at fat camp.
Green living marketing campaigns are everywhere these days but here I’d like to focus on some green strategies that benefit your personal health as well.
1. Fast food: Not part of a green OR healthy diet. Fast food contributes to the demise of the planet in a few different ways. The amount of trash from a typical fast food meal is huge. It may not seem like much at the time, but go one week without bringing fast food home and take note of how often the trash can fills up! Fast food also contributes to our gluttonous need for beef. Obviously, the more beef we consume the more cattle we need to meet that demand. More and more cattle means more land use. More land use means stripping rainforests in some cases. More cattle means more cattle gas. Methane gas from cattle farts pollutes the atmosphere.
2. Buy organic foods – If you want to be truly green then you should buy more organic produce. This is often much healthier than over refined foods and will also taste a lot better. You will be able to get more of the nutrients you need without having to eat as much. Organic food is grown naturally without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals that are both bad for your body and the environment.
3. Green living means reducing your carbon footprint and emissions from driving. Walking and biking when possible are great forms of exercise and help the planet because they do not generate pollution or burn fossil fuels. Many weight loss camps for teens use activities like hiking as a great source of enjoyment and exercise.
4. Being green means turning off the TV. Television use contributes to the greenhouse gasses that are harming the planet. Just watching a few less hours per day can help limit the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted which means you and your family are making a positive impact on the environment. Now, get the kids to go outside and play with the neighbors’ kids and those neighbors’ neighbors’ etc… Think about the impact of all those people on the planet’s health. What’s more? Your kids are outside playing, running, getting fresh air and improving their health! Another win/win!
These suggestions should help to encourage your children to become healthier and also take an interest in the environment. If you think that your children aren’t living healthily enough then you may want to book them into a fat camps. These camps employ fully qualified counselors to help get to the root of the problem.
Tags: green living, health, Parenting, teen obesity, weight loss for kids
Our eating habits are formed in childhood. This is why the things that an entire family eats play a role in kids and teens developing problems with their weight. The most common scenario is an overweight child with one or more overweight siblings and with at least one parent with weight issues. Trying to solve the child’s weight problem is as much a matter of getting the entire family involved as it is addressing specific issues with the child. Things like weight loss camps for kids can help your child start his new eating plan.
Many children are given too many freedoms these days and they are often allowed to choose the foods that they want to eat. A couple of generations ago kids were only allowed to eat whatever was put in front of them. Children were not able to choose what food was put on the table and didn’t have as much access to unhealthy snacks.
There was recently a study conducted where over 18,000 kids and teenagers took questionnaires home that asked about family eating habits. The results showed that four in five families allow their child to have a say in what they eat. This study showed a strong link of children who have a healthy eating habits and parents who choose their meals. Another finding of the study was that the more families ate together, the less chance the child would become obese.
There have been other studies that have revealed a link between children with low self esteem and obesity but the question of causality still remains – does obesity cause low self esteem or does low self esteen cause obesity? The types of camps formerly know as “fat camp” take a proactive approach to the link between overeating and self esteem.
One thing that scientists can’t argue about is the sharp rise in cases of childhood obesity during the last two decades. These obese children aren’t just putting unnecessary strain on their bodies but they are also pushing the health care system to the limits. Obese children normally become obese adults. There are an increasing number of cases of adults suffering from diabetes due to being overweight and the nubmer of children that suffer from Type II Diabetes (previously believed to only affect adults) continues to grow. This is a great reason to deal with obese children as soon as possible.
It is believed that 10 percent of the United States children population was classified as overweight/obese in 1980. In 20 years, the numbers tripled and now stand at 30 percent. It is these staggering numbers that has brought much discussion to the childhood obesity crisis.
Parents who want to help their child lose weight must often undo problems they caused. If they allowed the child to dictate what he ate without restriction it will take time to establish nutritional rules. It may also require the full cooperation of every member of the family. A child who is not allowed to have sweets will feel only frustration if he knows a locked cabinet is filled with sweet snacks that other family members are eating. He feels deprived, unloved and mistreated and will not be able to focus on solving his own weight problem.
The first thing that you need to do is start by getting rid of any unhealthy foods from your house. Don’t allow any of your kids or any other family member to eat these unhealthy foods. A lot of this junk food is very unhealthy. Also, if you can manage to go shopping without your children you should do so, at least initially. It’s much easier to fight the “snack food battle” at home than in Aisle 9. Of course sometimes you may want to take an older child shopping so that you can explain about ingredients in foods and why they are unhealthy.
Make sure to establish a family meal plan that doesn’t include fried or over-sauced foods. Start a low fat diet for the entire household. If you can change the eating behaviors of the whole family, the overweight child has a higher chance to succeed in their weight loss attempt.
Don’t let the child sit in front of the television all day and night. Instead, go walking with him/her. If your child is driven to school, consider dropping him/her off at the school’s curb rather than the front door. Put together some weekend activities that involve a lot of walking, swimming and more but make sure it’s something he/she be willing to do so that they don’t drag behind…not wanting to join in on the fun. This is integral to the successful strategy used at weight loss camps for kids.
Tags: childhood obesity, children health, Parenting, weight loss camps, weight loss for kids
The weight loss camps of today are quite different from the old fat camp. These are nothing to be afraid about and can actually do your child a whole lot of good. These weight loss camps are designed to educate overweight children so that they understand how to make their lives healthier. While they are not a ‘quick cure’ for weight issues, they are however a great long term solution for weight loss. Weight loss camps are a fantastic way of learning how to change your life for the better.
Many parents that consider sending their kid off to fat camps often struggle with the final decision. Admittedly, sending your child away to get help with their weight loss takes power away from the parents and is a way of them saying “I give up. I need help.” This is never easy to do, but is often the best choice to make. Certainly, parents are able to learn the things that they need to and eventually can help their children get on the right track, but that takes a lot of time that many parents simply don’t have. There is nothing wrong with leaving it to professionals who have years of experience working with kids just like yours.
While you’re surfing the web for the best camp, keep in mind some of the following things:
1. Make sure the camp promotes a healthy approach to weight loss. This seems obvious, but make sure you’re not sending your child to an “old school” mentality “fat camp.” The camp should offer plenty of healthful food choices that won’t leave your child hungry. Get some samples of the a daily menu and make sure it includes plenty of vegetables and fruit, lean protein, non-fat dairy and whole grains.
2. Also make sure that the exercises the fat camp does are fun. Many adults will force themselves to go to the gym even though it’s boring. However kids need to have fun when exercising. In order to encourage them to lose weight they need to be doing something enjoyable. The more fun they find the exercises; the more likely they will be able to lose weight. They might even be able to suggest how you can change your own exercise regime to make it more interesting.
3. It is also important to find a camp that sets realistic goals and objectives for he summer. It is important to remember that children lose weight differently than adults and need to set goals with that in mind. A number of kids “grow in” to their healthy weights more than they shed pounds like adults do. Thus, if you find a camp that guarantees your child will lose a certain percentage of their body weight or will return home skinny, consider these things red flags.
4. Make sure that the camp takes the “healthy approach” beyond the food and exercise to include emotional support. Being overweight or obese can be very tough on your child’s emotional well-being and you may not even be aware of some of the emotional scars that your child has. You want to find a weight loss camp where the counselors are encouraging as well as understanding. You want your child to lose weight, not self-esteem!
Tags: fat camp, Parenting, teen weight loss, weight loss camp, weight loss for kids
Years ago there were far fewer overweight kids in the world than there are today. Any child which was overweight was often teased and taunted by their friends. There weren’t many children who were overweight and this meant that any stood out like a sore thumb. Lots of people questioned these overweight individuals and they often got teased a lot and sent to what used to be called “fat camps.”
These days, childhood obesity is becoming much more of a problem. In fact, depending on where you go for your data, around half of children of school age are overweight or obese. It can actually be difficult to say how big an average child is anymore. There are even some parents who are so worried about allowing children to become fat that they are in fact far too thin. Neither is healthy, it’s important that they are the right weight.
If your child is overweight then you might feel more comfortable knowing that many more people suffer from the condition these days. This means that they won’t be singled out as often which will in turn mean that they don’t get teased half as much. They might not feel the need to lose weight because they are in the same boat as many other people. However parents should do everything they can to improve the health of their children.
You need to take a proactive approach to dealing with overweight children. One of the best ways of doing this is to sign up to a weight loss camp for teens. There are lots of weight loss camps dotted around the country and all of these can provide help and support. Any good camp should employ counselors who will be able to teach your child the importance of eating well and living at a healty weight. Obesity isn’t just important for your appearance but it is also very important for your health. Helping your child to lose weight will improve relationships with friends and also prevent them from suffering from a number of long term negative health effect.
Our children might not get teased as often for being overweight, however there are still plenty of reasons why we need to help our children to get their weight under control. As parents we should be interested in their health and do everything we possibly can to look after them and help them get their weight under control.
Tags: childhood obesity, children health, Parenting, weight loss camps, weight loss for kids
