A fat camp is a slang term for a type of program where overweight and obese children and teenagers are sent during the summer to lose weight. In todays politically correct environment, they are more gently referred to as a fitness and weight loss camp. The label of fat camp has changed because it lowers the self esteem of kids being sent to this type of recreational camp they were to attend during their summer vacation. Most of these fat camps are now offering fun and exciting weight loss programs that make losing weight a great and rewarding experience for its visitors.



Fat camps are usually located on a quiet beach, the mountains, or a secluded forest. The aim of this quiet location is to give the campers a peace of mind and a stress free environment that will make weight loss fun.

Fat camps nowadays typically provide nutrition classes, weekly weigh ins, and many more aerobic based classes. These camps enhance the health of the campers and raise their self confidence as well as teach them about how to live well in the outside world.

Fat camps have been proven to provide weight-loss results of two to six pounds per week on participants on average. In addition, overweight campers generally lose more of the expected weight in these programs. The effectiveness of these summer camps varies widely and usually depends on the quality of the individual program and biochemistry of the attending campers.

New programs focus on changing behavior through a combination of training on self-regulatory behaviors and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to ensure that weight loss persists long after campers return home. Most experts believe these are key elements of an effective program.

With todays video game era and the computer age, fewer and fewer children are at a healthy weight. The lifestyle of kids today is filled with fattening foods and less exercise. This is a trend that has steadily increased. In fact, has the number of obese children has tripled since the 1980s.

The approach to treating obesity in children has changed dramatically for the better. Proper education on individual eating habits has been the focus on these camps, in addition to their traditional fitness and weight loss programs. In todays fat camps, children are taught proper education in nutrition in order to avoid eating too much sugar and fat, which is the leading cause of obesity.

Many media programs now disseminate the information on the proven weight loss success of these camps. Parents are now able to send their children to the leading fitness and weight loss camps knowing their proven weight loss successes. The proliferation of fat camps means that there are now many convenient locations available that not only encourage fitness and fun, but also teaches the children proper nutritional education skills. Fat camps have been known to ingrain into the minds of children proper nutrition, which they can implement throughout their adult lives.

Many of the children return home from fat camps spreading the knowledge they have learned and change their families eating habits forever. There is now proliferation of stories of whole families, jointly losing as much as one hundred pounds, once the child returns home from their fun filled, summer retreat.

These camps go well beyond the fat camp mentality of the 1980s in which children are just put through strenuous exercise without changing their eating habits.