Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Aspen Education Group

Aspen in the Youth Weight Loss Business

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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.
Sen. Sam Ervin, Preserving The Constitution
--- End quote ---

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:

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