Childhood Obesity | Shane Weight Loss Camps & Resorts

Posts Tagged ‘Childhood Obesity’

Weight Loss Camp: Prevent Childhood Obesity Consequences

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Almost one third of children in America are overweight or obese. Some parents not only take no action to get their child’s weight under control, by sending them to weight loss camps for example, but go to further measures to reassure the child that being overweight is ok. If your child is “fluffy” or “has more to love,” there are some things you should know about their future, potentially dangerous, health outcomes.

First of all, the psychological effects of teasing, bullying, and self esteem can be so extreme for children. Depression is usually a side effect of childhood obesity. You can build your child up as much as you can, but you cannot control what other children say. This is most likely the reason for parents that praise their children who are overweight, but there are much healthier and effective solutions.

Think about your child’s heart. Younger and younger people are having problems with cholesterol and hypertension, due to the decreasing age of obesity onset. Problems like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are more likely to occur in people who were obese as children, even if they lose weight and adapt a healthy lifestyle later in life. That being said, if you have an obese child, they are far more likely to continue this unhealthy lifestyle into adulthood and may be set up for weight-management failure at a young age.

Breathing problems occur too. Many children have issues developmentally due to obesity and inactivity that result in sleep apnea and asthma. Children with sleep apnea can awaken up to 15 times an hour! There is no way your child can get the recommended amount of sleep waking up that many times. Another rising problem associated with childhood obesity is non alcoholic cirrhosis. Children develop a fatty liver due to overconsumption of calories, mainly fructose (High- fructose corn syrup). It is a phenomenon that doctors were baffled by when young children were developing diseases associated with aged alcoholics!

Another negative side effect of childhood obesity that is normally not recognized as such is skeletal problems. When a child is extremely overweight, growth and development of the skeletal structure is compromised and there is a chance of deformations. Joint pain is also more prevalent with all the weight on their joints. Overweight kids also have more of an issue with balance, so they tend to break bones more. This is a problem, because healing is complicated. Splints and casts are less effective and can cause skin problems due to abnormally large limbs. Treatment usually involves surgery (rods, pins, etc.), which leaves room for post-surgery infection.

It may be hard to approach the situation of childhood obesity, since we all love our children and don’t want them to feel like there is something wrong with them. But if you don’t help them combat this problem now, it will only escalate into worse problems. So get some help if diet and exercise don’t work- perhaps they would benefit from a structured weight loss camp, such as Camp Shane for children and teens. It is not ok for your child to be morbidly obese at a young age.

Childhood obesity can lead to a variety of health complications. Prevent these health problems by sending your child to a fun summer weight loss camp.

Written by Amanda Yazbek, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for kids

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Tags: Childhood Obesity, healthy lifestyle, obese children, overweight children, overweight kids, weight loss camp for kids, weight loss program
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Weight Loss Surgery for Teens

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Childhood obesity continues to be an epidemic in the United States, and some overweight teens are turning to more extreme measures for quick weight loss. Rather than the traditional healthy eating and exercise routine, more and more young adults and teenagers are opting for weight loss surgery, especially stomach banding. A recent article in the New York Times by Anemona Hartocollis follows one young woman who went under the knife for the sake of losing weight.

There has been an explosion of weight loss surgeries recently, with about 220,000 operations per year, at the cost of over $6 billion. More young people are also being operated on, which is met with some skepticism by doctors who argue that their bodies are still in the process of going through changes. Also, long-term effectiveness is still in question.

“I think it’s pretty extreme to change the anatomy of a child when you haven’t even tackled the other elements,” said Dr. Wendy M. Scinta, a family practitioner in Manlius, a suburb of Syracuse, who specializes in pediatric weight loss. Unlike with older patients, she said, “there is not a huge rush to fix it or they will die.”

One to two percent of all weight-loss, or bariatric, operations are on patients under 21, but studies are under way to gauge the outcomes of surgery on children as young as 12. Allergan, the maker of Lap-Band, is seeking permission from the Food and Drug Administration to market to children as young as 14, four years younger than what is currently allowed.

Gastric banding, a form of weight loss surgery, restricts the amount of food that can be consumed at one time.

Stomach banding, or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, constitutes about 39 percent of all bariatric surgeries. The risks of all the operations have declined, partly because surgeons are now more experienced and are using less-invasive techniques, but also because they are operating on thinner, healthier patients. But long-term results are still being studied.

A Belgian study of adult patients found that nearly half had their bands removed within 12 years for various reasons. Some of these reasons included not losing much weight, regaining what they had lost, frequent heartburn or vomiting, or the band slipped or perforated the stomach.

A German study found that 30 percent of patients needed new operations within 14 years, some because they wanted bands removed, and others because of complications like slippage.

Another study in Australia found that one-third of operations on teenagers required follow-up surgeries within two years, often because of “pouch dilation,” when the stomach above the band becomes enlarged, which can happen if the patient does not follow the regimen and tries to eat too much.

Diana Zuckerman, a psychologist and president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, believes that teenagers are bad candidates for gastric banding surgery as they are often immature, rebellious, and uninterested in long-term consequences.

Some experts also question the possibility of malnutrition because the patients’ shortened digestive tracts absorb fewer nutrients, which could affect development.

Shani Gofman, a teenager from Brooklyn, first learned about weight loss surgery from her pediatrician when she was 17 years old. Coming in at over 250 pounds at just 5-foot-1, she insisted that she could lose weight on her own through diet and exercise. Unfortunately, her pediatrician didn’t believe in her. After her doctor proposed weight loss surgery, she did attempt to lose weight on her own, but failed miserably and actually gained 30 pounds instead.

When Shani met with the bariatric surgeon, he informed her that post-surgery, she should expect to lose about 40 percent of her excess weight, or 70 to 80 pounds. That, of course, was if she followed the regimen.

After Shani had her surgery done, she did end up losing 20 pounds in the first 13 days, but complained of constant hunger. She said she also had to resist the temptations of unhealthy foods readily available all around her. When her surgeon advised food in moderation above all else, she told him that she is not good at moderation.

Three weeks later, Shani was down another eight pounds and had gone from a size 26 to a size 20. She also joined a gym and bought a swimsuit.

Shani did hit an obstacle when she took a trip to Israel with other teenagers. She found herself either getting sick or sitting in pain after every meal, as she was often eating on the run. She also found that junk food went down easier for her than healthier alternatives.

As it turned out, Shani gained back nearly half of what she had lost and is fighting constant hunger and slow progress. Her surgeon tightened her band to make food go down even slower. never actually revealed her current weight at the end of the article – not a promising sign.

Weight loss surgery for young people can be a very controversial topic of discussion and many believe that it is too extreme, compared to other methods such as weight loss camp. Do you believe weight loss surgery is a permanent solution? Should teenagers be allowed to have surgery done? We’d love to hear what you think about this topic.

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Tags: Childhood Obesity, losing weight, overweight teens, quick weight loss, weight loss camp, weight loss surgery for teens
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Top Ten Healthy Lifestyle Tips for Your Kids

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Physical activity is such an important part of your kid’s fitness plan after returning home from his or her weight loss camp and it is important to stay on track in the new year. In this day and age, it is much harder to stay physically active for weight loss. Children want to be entertained by electronics such as television, computers, video games, iPods, and cell phones. The key is to reduce screen time and make physical activity fun and lead by example by participating in physical activity with them. Here are a few ideas to get moving!

Keep your child fit and healthy after weight loss camp by going for a family bike ride.

Visit the playground often
Walk to places with your child instead of driving
Take your child to the swimming pool or beach
Kick around a soccer ball or shoot some hoops
Get a bicycle and go on rides together
Encourage games and sports with other kids
Make physical activity imaginative- hop like a bunny or jump like a frog
Run races together
Build an obstacle course and encourage your child to use it
Let your child do household chores that keep them active- like vacuuming or mowing the lawn

Of course, you may have to get a little creative during the winter when outdoor activities are limited, but definitely take advantage of the warmer days! What family activities do you participate in with your children to keep them active and healthy, to fight childhood obesity? We would love to hear your own ideas!

Written by Amanda Yazbek, Nutritionist at Camp Shane weight loss camp for children and teens

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Tags: Childhood Obesity, fitness plan, healthy lifestyle, physical activity, weight loss camp
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Childhood Obesity News: School Lunches Get a Makeover

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

School lunches and snacks have been in the news often lately, as many parents and nutritionists point to these junk foods as a reason behind the childhood obesity epidemic. For a while, there has been talk of making over school lunches to meet higher nutrition standards for a healthy diet. The government has announced today that they are releasing new nutrition standards for schools, as per an article in USA Today by Nanci Hellmich.

New Nutrition Standards for School Lunches

Today the government announced new nutrition standards for healthier school lunches.

Today the government is releasing new nutrition standards for school meals that spell out dramatic changes, including slashing sodium, limiting calories and offering students a wider variety and larger portions of fruits and vegetables. These changes will raise the nutrition standards for meals for the first time in more than 15 years.

“When we send our kids to school, we expect that they won’t be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home,” first lady Michelle Obama said in a statement. She is announcing the new standards today along with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack..

Vilsack says this is a historic opportunity “to improve the quality and quantity of the school meal programs.”

The quality of school meals has been hotly debated for years because one-third of children in the USA are overweight or obese. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set new nutrition standards for all food served in schools. The rules released today apply to school meals; regulations for other foods such those served in à la carte lines, vending machines and stores will come later.

The changes are designed to improve the health of nearly 32 million children who eat lunch at school every day and almost 11 million who eat breakfast. Overall, kids consume about 30% to 50% of their calories while at school. The new standards for school lunch:

•Establish maximum calorie and sodium limits for meals. The sodium limits are phased in over 10 years.

•Require schools to serve a fruit and vegetable every day at lunch and in larger portions than offered before. Portion sizes vary by age group. For instance, high school students will have to be offered one cup of vegetables and one cup of fruit a day. Right now they have to be offered a total of three-quarters cup of fruit and vegetables.

•Require schools to offer a minimum number of leafy green vegetables, red-orange vegetables, starchy vegetables and legumes each week. The amount varies by age group. For example, high school students have to be offered at least a half-cup of green leafy vegetables a week.

New Nutrition Guidelines for School Lunches

New nutrition guidelines include more vegetables and low-fat or fat-free milk.

•Require that after the two years of implementation, all grains offered to students must be rich in whole grains such as brown rice. Breads, buns, cereals and pastas must list whole grain as the first ingredient.

•Require milk to be either low-fat (1%) or fat-free. (That is already in effect.) Flavored milk, such as chocolate, must now be fat-free.

•Require that foods that are served contain no trans fats.

The new standards for lunch take effect the next school year. Changes for breakfast will be phased in.

Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest says the changes “are landmark. These are the first-ever standards for sodium, trans fat and whole grains and the first time ever they’ve had an upper limit for calories.”

Congress blocked the proposal to restrict starchy vegetables, and it required that pizza continue to count as a vegetable, she says.

The federal government will give schools an additional 6 cents a lunch to meet the standards. When the rules are fully implemented, the cost of preparing a healthier lunch that meets the new rules is estimated to rise by about 11 cents, and the cost of preparing a breakfast is estimated to increase by 28 cents, the USDA says. The agency estimates that the increased cost of producing meals that meet the standard will be $3.2 billion over five years.

Vilsack says companies that supply commodities to the USDA already are responding to the standards by offering foods that are lower in fat, sugar and sodium. Frozen fried potatoes are being replaced with potatoes that have been roasted or baked, he says.

Many schools already have made improvements. “These are all goals school nutrition professionals have been working toward, and these national nutrition standards will ensure that every student has access to a healthy meal in the cafeteria,” says Diane Pratt-Heavner of the School Nutrition Association.

Schools must meet the standards to get federal reimbursements for meals, she says. They now receive $2.77 from the federal government for every child who is on the free-lunch program. “Healthy food costs more, so school programs will have to find ways to meet the standards while staying within their budget.”

Here’s how elementary school lunch menus will change on two sample days:

DAY 1

Before regulation:
Hot dog on bun (3 oz.) with ketchup (4 Tbs.)
Canned pears (¼ cup)
Raw celery and carrots (1/8 cup each) with ranch dressing (1.75 Tbs.)
Low-fat (1%) chocolate milk (8 oz.)

After the regulation:
Whole-wheat spaghetti with meat sauce (½ cup) Whole-wheat roll with soft margarine (5 grams)
Green beans, cooked (½ cup)
Broccoli (½ cup) Cauliflower (½ cup)
Low-fat ranch dip (1 oz.)
Kiwi halves, raw (½ cup)
Low-fat (1%) milk (8 oz.)

DAY 2

Before the regulation:
Cheese pizza (4.8 oz)
Canned pineapple (¼ cup)
Tater Tots (½ cup) with ketchup (2 Tbs.)
Low-fat (1%) chocolate milk (8 oz)

After the regulation:
Whole-wheat cheese pizza (1 slice)
Baked sweet potato fries (½ cup)
Grape tomatoes, raw (¼ cup)
Low-fat ranch dip (1 oz.)
Applesauce (½ cup)
Low-fat (1%) milk (8 oz.)

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Tags: Childhood Obesity, healthy diet, overweight or obese
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Healthy Lifestyle City Farm: Supermarket of the Future?

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Isn’t it such a hassle trying to find certain ingredients for your recipe, but they’re not all available in one market? It would be so much easier to have all of the choices available in one place. That dream may become a reality for some people in the near future. According to a recent article on CNN.com by George Webster, a group of Dutch architects are planning a “Park Supermarket,” an urban farming project that will attempt to grow and sell all of the food of a modern supermarket in one place. This may also be a big step for any weight loss diet, as it will offer healthy diet options and fresh locally-grown produce.

Concept for healthy lifestyle park supermarket, where consumers can choose their own fresh produce.

This plan calls for the park supermarket to be constructed in Randstad, Holland’s largest metropolitan area. In defiance of the country’s moderate climate, the architects say they have devised a system to control the park’s outdoor environment, using old and new farming technologies to simulate Mediterranean and tropical climates in an ecologically sustainable way.

“The cities surrounding the proposed site are home to 170 different eating cultures — from Moroccan to Indonesian, from Turkish to Chinese — and we’re aiming to grow food to satisfy all their tastes,” said Jago van Bergen, one of the brains behind the “Park Supermarket,”

“The plan is to divide the park into three climate zones — moderate, Mediterranean and tropical. Because this will also be a recreational space, our goal is to make it as open as possible, without using greenhouses,” he said.

The Park Supermarket plan does not appeal to everyone.

“Anything that reduces food miles and other carbon emissions linked to food production is normally a positive thing,” said Dr Nicola Canon, lecturer in crop sciences at the UK’s Royal Agricultural College. “However, I have reservations about any system that creates open artificial climates.

“We know that we are suffering from climate change, with one area enduring long wet spells while another goes through a prolonged drought. I wonder if we really ought to be exploring technologies that seek to control our already unpredictable weather cycles.”

Canon is also concerned that the introduction of alien climates may also precipitate the introduction of alien pests.

“Every time you raise humidity, you raise disease affectability — because where you have good conditions for growth you also have good conditions for disease to grow. I think creating tropical climates next to moderate ones could introduce a host of new diseases and pests to the region in quite an unpredictable way,” she warned.

For van Bergen, this type of criticism misses the point, because he sees the Park Supermarket as just one of many possible alternatives to the existing system of food production.

“I’m not a preacher of any one form of agriculture,” he said. “Just like our energy, I think our future food supplies will have to come from a variety of sources, using a variety of methods — of which we are sure this will be one.

“But this is about more than sustainable, non-intensive farming, it’s about cultivating community ties and giving new meaning to a space on the edge of the city that is currently being used for very little else.”

What are your thoughts on this Park Supermarket? Could this be beneficial to our country to fight childhood obesity and encourage weight loss through healthy eating? Besides healthy lifestyle benefits, could it potentially benefit the economy as well? We would love to hear your thoughts on this one!

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Tags: Childhood Obesity, healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, weight loss diet
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