A Fat Camp for 4-Year-Olds

Yep, it's true -- there is now a weight-loss camp for kids as young as four years old.

In an effort to slim down the national obesity crisis in England, Britain's National Health Service has launched fat-fighting classes targeting families with young kids, including those just barely out of diapers. This moves comes in response to recent figures that revealed 25 percent of the country's 5-year-olds were overweight. And with experts warning that overweight children were likely to grow up into obese adults, the camps have already taken off throughout northern England with a nationwide roll-out planned shortly.

"Puppy fat is no longer relevant to our children. They just don't grow out of it any more," Paul Gately, professor of exercise and obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK, told Fox 5 in Atlanta.
In the past, fat camps may have gotten a bad rap, conjuring up humiliating images of overweight kids locked behind barb-wired fences, denied food and forced to exercise. But these days, the industry has re-branded itself as weight-loss camps that teach healthy lifestyles through balanced diets, nutrition classes, journaling, exercise and group counseling sessions. And many of these camps boast dramatic results.

Take, for instance, 16-year-old Georgia Davis, who was nicknamed "Britain's Fattest Teenager" earlier this year. She returned home this summer after attending a weight-loss camp in North Carolina and losing a whopping 210 pounds. Her own mother didn't even recognize her at the airport.

There is other evidence that seems to support the benefit of these camps, too. According to a study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, kids who attended weight loss camps in the U.K. and U.S. were successful at losing an average of 16 pounds. Researchers found that participation in group weight loss programs had an added benefit beyond BMI reduction -- and kids left the camps with an improvement in body image and self-esteem.

Gately stresses that healthy living is a family affair. "It's important to get everyone exercising together," he said. "You don't have to run marathons. A day out walking round a museum or swimming on a Saturday morning both count."

For other ways to keep your child healthy, without a weight-loss camp, check out these rules to live by.