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Aug 18 2008
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• nytimes.com
From the page: "p, she had lost 37 pounds. She hopes to get down to 304 by the time camp ends next week. Whether she does or not, Tiffany is already one of the lucky few.
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Andrew Henderson/The New York Times
Campers gathering for soccer. Ms. King, right, aims to lose 50 pounds at the camp.
Her family could not have afforded camp if Tiffany had not won a scholarship essay contest.
There are nine million overweight or obese children in the United States. And although the prevalence of childhood obesity has tripled since 1980, there are few comprehensive or affordable programs to treat them. Summer weight loss camps are usually profit-making and can cost more than $1,000 a week. Most insurance does not cover that cost.
For Dr. Walter J. Pories, a well-known gastric bypass surgeon, the dearth of government and insurance financing for such comprehensive weight-loss programs is oethe single most frustrating problem in dealing with childhood obesity.”
Christina Benson, Tiffanys mother, knows all too well that insurance coverage is spotty. She works for a health insurance program in Durham, N.C. oeI work in the health care industry and I think it is really a disgrace, a disadvantage to our members, that we cannot offer this kind of program under reimbursement,” Ms. Benson, a widow since Tiffanys father died, said.
Several national groups are pressing for government financing or insurance reimbursement for more intensive weight loss treatment for children, including weight loss camps. In the meantime, many children mostly have to follow Tiffanys lead. She submitted a personal essay that was well written, sad and compelling. oeIf I could get on my knees and beg for this campership, I would, because I want to feel good about my life,” she wrote. oeSometimes, if Im walking down the street, I can hear people talking about me and staring at me.”
She compared herself to a oeplump caterpillar” waiting to break free of its cocoon. (Read her entire essay at nytimes.com/business.)
As she prepares to enter the seventh grade, Tiffany Kings weight has placed her at high risk of developing the Type 2 diabetes that runs in her family, which would make her part of an epidemic of overweight and Type 2 diabetes that is reaching into ever younger age groups.
Camp Pocono Trails is part of a chain of three New Image Camps whose other sites are in Florida and California. Pocono Trails received 173 entries to its essay contest this year " for 10 slots. (Tiffany is spending eight weeks at Pocono Trails, a session that normally costs nearly $8,000.)
Another chain of weight loss camps, Wellspring, received more than 200 applications for 35 subsidized or free stays at one of its nine camps.
Wellspring, which runs a total of two schools and nine camps in America, England and Australia, says it is seeking corporate sponsors to help provide more scholarships. Wellspring also recently helped start one of the advocacy groups pushing for insurance coverage of programs like weight loss camps, Childhood Obesity Treatment in Action.
As things now stand, depending on the insurance company, some medical and psychological components of weight loss treatments are covered, and parents can sometimes take tax deductions for fees to programs, depending on their tax situation.
At Wellspring, approximately one in three campers has received insurance reimbursement for about one-fourth of the cost " the portion that includes cognitive behavioral therapy, which is sometimes covered by mental health plans.
There are about two dozen around the country, most of them run as for-profit operations. They typically emphasize exercise and controlled meal portions while serving balanced diets. Camp directors report that children generally lose weight during their stays at camp.
The big challenge comes later, when children resume their normal routines and confront the smorgasbord that is America " food in their own kitchens and at friends homes, fast-food restaurants and school cafeterias.
Dr. Pories, who also heads the Metabolic Institute at East Carolina University, found that children lost an average of about 8 percent of their body weight in a program he studied over three years; but two-thirds regained all or part of their weight.
Even Dr. Pories, who has been involved in promoting weight loss camp scholarships for underprivileged children in eastern North Carolina, says, oeA two-thirds failure rate is not acceptable.”
Some camps advertise better long-term results.
Critics of the camp contests worry that however well meaning, the essay competitions have drawbacks. The essays, in which children bare deeply embarrassing moments and personal problems, become the property of the camp or sponsors. Winners are sometimes encouraged to make themselves available for media interviews that generate publi
