Aspen in the Youth Weight Loss Business

[Anonymous]

http://strugglingteens.com/news/aeg-chg ... erras.html

[Anonymous]

Oh, great.

So if Mom is model-skinny and daughter inherited the wrong set of genes, daughter loses her home and family because she's too fat for mommy's ego.

So it's not just the kids at school picking on "the fat kid," now she gets kicked out of the house and into hell for it, too.

 :flame:  :flame:  :flame:

Gee, ever consider enrolling the kid in dance, martial arts, little league, taking her roller skating, taking her hiking or caving, getting her started in marching band or jazzercise?  Getting out and going bicycling with her?  Getting a membership at the Y and taking her swimming several times a week (*excellent* if the big exercise problem is thigh rash)

If she's just got the wrong set of genes, she won't get skinny, but it'll be great for her health---while spending time *with* her family.

Work out *with* your kid three times a week--gently but firmly insisting, but being totally positive in the social interaction of the workout--and even if she's still obese, at least she'll have the cardio fitness to carry it, and the endorphins not to succumb to despair over it.

Not to mention knowing you love her because you spend time with her and are *positive* and *affirming* when you do it.

Fat kids don't need to be kicked out of their house into Frankenstein's castle fat farms.

Fat kids need their parents to spend time with them positively, empathetically, firmly, *sharing* their workout.

Unless, of course, the kid has a genuine love for some physical activity she can do with peers----swim team, marching band, dance.

My kid's dance studio always had a few overweight students.  They didn't turn into skinny minnies, but they toned up, they got their cardio fitness up to where they were keeping up with the other girls.  They were a hell of a lot healthier than they would have been without dance.

They enjoyed the classes and kept coming back because dance wasn't based on what they shouldn't be or couldn't do---it showed them what they *could* do, and helped them do more.

Sure, kick the embarrassing fat kid out of the house so she won't embarrass Mom and Dad on the cocktail party circuit.

Grrrr.

 :flame:  :flame:  :flame:

Timoclea

[Deborah]

http://www.hhp.ufl.edu/keepingfit/ARTICLE/ovfit.HTM

Studies are showing that overweight men and women who exercise regularly live longer and are fitter than their sedentary peers of any weight. For example, a study conducted at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, which followed more than 25,000 men for an average of eight years, found that 1) fit fat men and fit thin men had similar death rates, 2) these death rates were lower than those of coach potatoes regardless of their body weight. The researchers concluded that, "although exercise may not make all people lean, it has important health benefits, even for those who remain overweight." Data from a major, long-term Harvard Alumni Study shows similar results. Also, Cooper Institute researchers as well as a large study of nurses have found that death rates for women were also lower in those who were fittest, regardless of body fat.

In addition, although excessive weight puts an extra burden on the back and legs -- which increases the risk of arthritis and low-back pain, being a bit overweight appears to provide some protection against some cancers and osteoporosis. Also, some research indicates that improvements in the most common obesity-related problems such as hypertension, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and diabetes can be achieved by lifestyle changes, including exercise, without weight loss.
********************

In addition, what program stresses reasonable exercise? The teens time outdoors and participation in group sporting events is severely curtailed in lieu of 'therapy'. If they exercise at all it's usually unreasonable- a punishment. Now, that's a way to set up an unhealthy relationship with exercise and fitness.
Many times outdoor time and exercise (fun exercise) are considered a 'privelege', not a right, and must be 'earned'.

[Anonymous]

Deborah---exactly.

It's not overweight that's the health problem and the killer.

It's a sedentary lifestyle.

Overweight is just a *symptom* of a sedentary lifestyle.

Fix the sedentary lifestyle problem and you fix the health problem---or improve it, anyway---regardless of weight.

Also, I'd figure a nutritionally inadequate diet is one of the usual health problems.

A kid (or adult) who eats good quality, fresh, nutritious food until he/she is satisfied, doesn't yo-yo diet, and gets ample regular, responsible exercise----is going to be healthier than a kid who doesn't----of whatever weight.

That is, genetics and all that being basically equal (it never is, but for the sake of argument).

It's not weight that's doing the killing.  It's bad food and sedentary living.

Ever hear of a Program with *good* food?

Didn't think so.

Good food is much more expensive than bad food.  And that expense cuts into profit margins.

No matter what the parents pay the programs, the programs would much rather *keep* that money than spend it on the kids.

Fresh lean meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and lots of them, whole grains, eggs, plenty of fish and dairy.

Good food, plenty of exercise, fresh air, and sunshine.

Plenty of love and positive attention from their parents.

Plenty of positive social stimulation and intellectual challenge.

The basics of good health are not rocket science.

Timoclea

[Deborah]

The 5K/mo TBS my son attended was unregulated. He said the fruit looked like they picked it up off the back docks of a supermarket- rejects. There was no variety.
After I reported them to ORS they hired a catering company to handle meals. My son and others I've spoken to said it was a significant improvement. Salad bar everyday, options, and plenty to eat.
Then there is the issue of "restriction" diets. Limited calories and NO variety, eating on the curb outside the dining hall, a time limit to eat, punishment if you don't toss your plate when trash comes by, and the loss of a meal if you are caught talking.
Why would a facility have to be made to provide adequate nutrition? How can any facility deny or limit nutrition as punishment? That is not 'therapeutic' in any sense of the word. This goes beyond behavior modification into abuse and neglect.

[idioteque]

A typical behavior-mod facility isn't run by professionals. This applies to just about every detail of the program, nutrition certainly included.

I was in an Aspen program and the food was adequate as far as provincial American food goes (I think I might have craved baguettes more than cigarettes there). Read: balanced but not appetizing.

What was unhealthy about it was the "clean plate" rule which entailed us finishing whatever was on our plates and, of course, a strictly enforced time-limit for eating. In fact, people *gained* weight at this program and it was lauded as the child's "return to health."

It should be interesting to see how AYS handles kids that aren't in danger of "gangs and death" like nearly all of their upper-middle class social-pothead clients.

[Deborah]

Tonight on Dateline
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/

High school for overweight teenagers: Nestled in the hills of central California, The Academy of the Sierras bills itself as the nation's first residential high school for overweight teenagers and is the focus of Rob Stafford's emotional and unique report on teenagers fighting life-threatening obesity. Last January, school officials granted "Dateline" extensive access to the campus, where teens from all over the country attend class, exercise rigorously, strictly monitor their diet, and learn to shed the emotional weight they've been carrying along with the extra pounds.

[Nihilanthic]

Just curious...

WHY the hell is 'emotional' this and that always a part of all of these programs? Its as annoying as when they say "introducing" on TV commercials.

Ardent advocates of prohibition were obsessed by a zeal that bordered on fanaticism. They supported politicians who voted to outlaw liquor, no matter how much of it they privately consumed, and spurned politicians who voted against prohibition, no matter how sober they were personally.
http://www.ncpoliticalreview.com/1101/Ervin/cohen.htm' target='_new'>Sen. Sam Ervin, Preserving The Constitution

[Anonymous]

The wonderful world of weightloss. I watch my friends raise their kids and its no wonder the kids are overweight. Id like to hear from parents... is it impossible to not buy your kid a car when he turns sixteen? Does he/she really need video games? Is it soooo foreign a concept to make dinner together and go for a walk afterward that its a rare family that does it? My boyfriends son is overweight (+50 lbs) and he associates any exercise with punishment. If you suggest a walk after dinner - even to Dairy Queen he thinks it punishment because he's fat. Those were his very words. Ive had students on wilderness trips that had undiagnosed eating disorders. Stuff their parents and therapists didnt know about. And when Ive met their parents the eating disorders makes a whole lot of sense.

This is one of those rambling posts.... but learning good nutrition and eating habits starts at home. Its no different than a third generation  welfare family or kids that become cops or firefighters because their parents and grandparents did it. You learn what you see and you do whats familiar. I dont see how sending a kid off to fat camp can change them any more than sending them to wilderness or TBS can.

And on a positive note concerning self-image... I had the pleasure of seeing a performance by a group called Circus Juventus. Its a circus arts school for kids in St. Paul, Minneosta. Trapeze, teeterboard, tumbling etc. There were some pretty big teenage girls out there in leotards and they looked pretty badass - and they knew it. The shit these kids did was amazing. Im psyched because now they offer classes for adults.

[Oz girl]

I could not agree more. Australia is starting to wake up to the issue of childhood obesity and it is being marketed as a health issue for the whole family. Why focus on the "fat" kid & send them off somewhere away from support systems. Does this not send the message that not only does society think you are an embarrasment but so does your own family? Why not just loose some of the junk food in the family fridge, replace it with healthy stuff, find fun outdoorsy things to do on the weekend & make sports ones where every kid gets to have a go?

This is an issue which if addressed well could rekindle a families love affair with the great out doors & make the home social again. What could be better for a kid than a big game of football in the back yard followed by a bbq with a whole lot of salads with all the kids friends and their parents. Instead the focus is being placed on letting a kid get to 16 and crisis point and then shunning them till they "look acceptable" and spending thousands in the process. Even if this programme is not abusive, it is in shockingly poor taste  for Aspen to cash in on a problem which has a real effect on a kids physical and mental health . Why do i get the impression that aspen has given very little thought to what happens when the kid goes back to the house that made them fat in the first place!  :roll:

[Anonymous]

Fat kid? Send him to a WWASPS program!

The effects of decomposition are sure to reduce your child's weight.

Of course, the fact that he's not breathing and will eventually start to stink might hamper your social life a bit, but a little bit of embalming should solve things. Ever see Weekend at Bernie's?