Outcry over teen fat camp

[Anonymous]

Sydney Confidential

March 31, 2007 12:00
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

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CHANNEL 10 will be making a big fat mistake with the "fragile" teens in line to loss weight before a national audience, health experts warn.
Participants in Teen Fat Camp, an upcoming reality weight loss show for overweight young Australians, could be left mentally scarred by the experience.

At least that's the hefty verdict from Australian Children Foundation's Joe Tucci who slammed the station this week over the program, now in production.

Six obese teenagers have been sent to a US 'fat farm' in a planned televised battle of the bulge.
But The Biggest Loser-style show could seriously traumatise its teen stars.

"Child obesity has many emotional and psychological iimpacts. The participants could be vulnerable and fragile,'' Dr Tucci said.

"They may not realise the dangers of exposing themselves to a wide audience.

But Ten remained steadfast in their support of the program, claiming it would be conducted in a safe environment and was completely different to its other competitive adult weight-loss show.

"Teen Fat Camp is an observational documentary - not a reality show,'' a Ten spokesman said.

"The documentary focuses on the positive journey each teenager makes. It is not about rapid weight loss but about the young people learning skills to deal with obesity issues, developing self esteem and control.''

The spokesman also confirmed Ten would push ahead with the show's controversial title despite it raising eyebrows when announced last year.

"The teenagers themselves called the camp a `fat camp' and took ownership of this phrase,'' he claimed.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 02,00.html


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so anyone know the name of this US "fat camp"?

[psy]

Sydney Confidential

March 31, 2007 12:00
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

Font size: + -

Send this article: Print Email

CHANNEL 10 will be making a big fat mistake with the "fragile" teens in line to loss weight before a national audience, health experts warn.
Participants in Teen Fat Camp, an upcoming reality weight loss show for overweight young Australians, could be left mentally scarred by the experience.

At least that's the hefty verdict from Australian Children Foundation's Joe Tucci who slammed the station this week over the program, now in production.

Six obese teenagers have been sent to a US 'fat farm' in a planned televised battle of the bulge.
But The Biggest Loser-style show could seriously traumatise its teen stars.

"Child obesity has many emotional and psychological iimpacts. The participants could be vulnerable and fragile,'' Dr Tucci said.

"They may not realise the dangers of exposing themselves to a wide audience.

But Ten remained steadfast in their support of the program, claiming it would be conducted in a safe environment and was completely different to its other competitive adult weight-loss show.

"Teen Fat Camp is an observational documentary - not a reality show,'' a Ten spokesman said.

"The documentary focuses on the positive journey each teenager makes. It is not about rapid weight loss but about the young people learning skills to deal with obesity issues, developing self esteem and control.''

The spokesman also confirmed Ten would push ahead with the show's controversial title despite it raising eyebrows when announced last year.

"The teenagers themselves called the camp a `fat camp' and took ownership of this phrase,'' he claimed.

Interesting way to praise that.  Doesn't "self esteem and control" seem to fit real well with the label of "fat camp"...  God people are fucked up... why can't people just accept people for who they are.  Image obsessed culture...

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21475049-5006002,00.html


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so anyone know the name of this US "fat camp"?

[Oz girl]

Program Survivors and parents should probably write as many people as possible to try and stop this before it begins. Afterall the Tas govt stopped promoting Catherine Freer after a few emails. Remember this industry taps into people fears. if people in the US fear jail for their kids people here fear the recent obesity epidemic!
Please try and stop the spread of this crass industry to Australia. I am still trying to ascertain whether it is Aspens wellsprings that the kids are going to
Here are the details of the following organisations

Channel 10 (the station planning on broadcasting this)
http://www.ten.com.au/ten/contact_us.html

Granada Television (the production company making the show)
http://www.granadaproductions.com.au

The Australian childhood foundation
http://www.childhood.org.au

Also the senator for communications. It is an election yr people!
http://www.minister.dcita.gov.au/

[Oz girl]

i am working on some proforma letter suggestions for those of you who cant be assed coming up with one but are willing to write. All you need to do is copy, paste, and if you want make any changes. This first one is to the Senator in charge of communications.


Senator The Hon Helen Coonan
Minister for Communication, Information Technology and The Arts



Dear Senator

I am writing to express my strong concern about a television program currently in production for Net work 10 that centers around Australian adolescents being sent to a fat camp. I feel that such a program is exploitative and unnecessary and has no place on Australian Television. I have grave concerns that for under 18 minors who may already suffer from serious self esteem issues this could make things far worse.
 A Television show which centers around the idea that long term sustainable weight management can be achieved by going away to any kind of camp like or institutional environment sends a dangerously unrealistic and socially irresponsible message to young Australians and families who are living with this serious issue. Weight loss issues are something that need to be managed within the context of the real world and young people in particular need the ongoing day to day support of their families and communities.
The second concern I have about such a program is that it is exploitative of the young people involved. Unlike it’s adult predecessor The biggest Loser, which has legally consenting adults, the participants on a reality TV show for underage adolescents has young people who are still answerable to their families and reliant on their parents for emotional and financial support. It is therefore not reasonable to expect that when such children agree to go on national television that they will be doing so of their own free will. Moreover many of these children and their families may agree to appear on a program like this out of sense of desperation. This leaves these children in a vulnerable position where they are likely to be open to exploitation.
The third concern I have is that this television show has the potential to become a free to air advertisement for the camp itself. It is a little known industry in Australia but the US has many camps, which cater to the parents of troubled adolescents. The overwhelming majority employ a philosophy of tough love and proclaim to work with all adolescent problems from learning difficulties to drug issues to general delinquency. The biggest company involved in this industry is called Aspen Education Group. Aspen has been involved in a British Reality TV series called Brat Camp. What the makers of Brat camp did not tell the audiences was that a number of Aspen Education Groups programs have a history of children occasionally dying in their camps and schools and of some serious injuries. I refer you to the following website, which contains a series of news reports on both Aspen and similar companies within this industry.
www.isaccorp.org/
With these concerns in mind I call upon you to request a review of the ABA code of practice to include a ban on the exploitation of minors. I also call upon you to do everything in your power to stop this inappropriate program from going ahead.

Yours sincerely

[Oz girl]

The guy who complained about this show in the first place

Dear Dr Tucci

I am writing to applaud your public condemnation of Network 10’s decision to broadcast a television program called Teen Fat Camp. I wholeheartedly agree with you that such a program is by definition exploitative and unhelpful in dealing with the issue of juvenile obesity.
What you may not be aware of is that the US has a highly profitable industry where the parents of troubled children and adolescents send their offspring to a variety of camps, boarding schools and outward bound like expeditions. Such places claim to treat almost every adolescent issue from mental health to obesity and body image to criminal behaviours. Some are also now claiming to socialize children with Aspergers and mild autism. The vast majority of these places have extremely strict rules, cut the young people off from family and friends and strictly monitor all written and telephone communication. This in many cases leaves the young people involved extremely vulnerable to abuse as there are few checks and balances and because the tough love philosophy which such places employ encourage to parents the idea that the children may be telling lies or being deliberately manipulative. As communication is monitored and censored it makes it very difficult for the children involved to have any complaints adequately investigated.

In the UK one of the most profitable service providers in this industry, a company called Aspen Education Group, participated in an extremely popular reality TV series called Brat Camp. Several of Aspens schools and camps have had reported deaths and injuries to the students within its care over the years. Because of it’s participation in Brat Camp, this industry has been able to gain an English market and has set up a UK weight loss camp called wellsprings.

While I appreciate that Australia has relatively strict child protection laws, the overall philosophy of this industry is extremely punitive to the young people in its charge. I fear that a program such as Teen Fat Camp could come across as an advertisement for the weight loss arm of this industry and encourage Australian parents to look toward this punitive environment as an answer to their children’s Obesity problems. I also have concerns that this takes the focus away from the family and community when coming up with ways of supporting and helping youngsters who are overweight.
I refer you to the following Website, which has a large newspaper archive on the troubled teen industry and the injuries and fatalities which have occurred within it as well as a list of complaints which have been submitted by both parents and children who have been burnt by this industry. Most of those involved have been willing to sign stat decs to verify that they are telling the truth.
www.isaccorp.org/
I call upon you to do all in your power to condemn this program and to try and stop this industry from gaining a presence in Australia. I urge you in your capacity as the spokesman for the Australian childhood foundation to contact both the Minister for Communications and her opposition equivalent at your earliest convenience and to make them aware of the ethical and potential health concerns of such an industry.
I thank you for your efforts to help young people and families

Yours Sincerely
.

[exhausted]

This is terrible - the so called 'fat kids' don't have any self esteem as it is, what with being called all sorts at school and outside, so what do they do? They eat for comfort ... I can't see how some program is going to do anything but make them thinner for entertainment value, what's up with that? Why can't these kids go to a nutritionalist and learn about health and dieet in a kind way? At least they'll feel they have got themselves into a healthy shape through their learning and effort and it'll become a way of life ... being overweight is not an issue, the health concerns involved are, but then, why aren't all these size 0 models sent away to fatten up, it's just as dangerous to be so stick thin, in fact the mortality rate through this is increasing all the time

these kids should refuse to be viewed by the public like a freak show and go get help in private if they want to.

[Oz girl]

I am glad you feel this way. i hope you sent an email
 8-)

[exhausted]

Will do for sure

[Anonymous]

::bump::

[Oz girl]

Get writing people. It is bad enough that the *magic* of TV has exported this sort of industry to europe. Lets keep it out of the Asia Pacific

[Anonymous]

bump