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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The nation's first weight
loss camp for children as young as age five will open
this summer. Located on Clear Lake in the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan, the Wellspring Family Camp provides a scientifically
based weight loss and behavioral change immersion program
for young overweight and obese children and their parents.
While existing Wellspring weight loss camps operating in New
York, North Carolina, California, and the UK only accept children
older than age 10, the Wellspring Family Camp is designed
specifically for children between 5 and 13 years old. Each
child must be accompanied by one or both parents while at
the camp.
Ryan Craig, president of Wellspring Camps told Reuters Health:
"We know that the Wellspring approach works with older
teens and young adults and there is a huge need for younger
kids."
According to Craig, "91 percent of Wellspring campers
maintain or continue the weight loss achieved at camp in the
9 months after returning home. The average Wellspring camper
goes on to lose an additional 7.4 lbs. in the 9 months after
returning home." In addition, parents attending the camp
can expect to lose 8 to 10 pounds, if they are overweight.
With the younger kids, "the key is to have the family
involved," Craig said.
Several factors distinguish the Wellspring approach to weight
loss from that of most weight loss camps, according to Dr.
Daniel S. Kirshenbaum, clinical director of Healthy Living
Academies, which operates the Wellspring camps.
"First of all, this is a comprehensive weight control
program where parents receive intense training on proven techniques
that promote healthy, long-term weight loss in young children,"
he said in a statement.
"Second, parents learn skills that improve their families'
eating and activity patterns, and they learn to recognize
and better manage stress that can result in emotional eating.
Finally," Kirshenbaum said, "families develop an
entirely new skill-set for continued weight loss at home
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