If your child is overweight, weight loss camps are equipped to deal with this issue proactively and with sensitivity. Many children have benefited from the holistic approach taken to fitness and weight loss espoused by a summer camp focusing on those exact issues. Engage your child with one of these camps for only one summer, and the benefits may last a lifetime.
Weight loss camp can teach children the essentials of fitness, weight management and healthy eating habits in an environment that is conducive to learning and will not make them feel judged. In an environment of peers facing similar problems with weight, your child will feel accepted, open to sharing with others and encouraged to face challenges from his or her new friends.
You can use our site to find fitness-oriented camps across the country. Click on your city below and find weight loss camps near you.
Search ALL WEIGHT LOSS CAMPS
A variety of ways to participate
After school weight loss classes and programs can give you ongoing support or offer activities that make fitness fun.
Weight loss day camps dominate the listings and city links above.
Overnight weight loss camps offer a weeklong immersion that facilitates deep friendships and creates memories you’ll keep forever.
Out of consideration for some kids' insecurities, there are boys-only summer camps and girls-only summer camps in this category.
Fitness boot camps for kids maximize intensity. It may sound pejorative to some, but there are those in the industry who cheerfully refer to these as fat camps. Chelsea Kronegold has “had the privilege of attending as a camper, counselor, and group leader [and says] Yes, you heard me, Fat camp! …. Given that everyone is at camp for the same reason, sharing similar goals and motivations, [this] is a place where we encourage and empower one another to be the best we can be.”
Related camp options
Use our site to find many different summer camps offering a variety of outdoor activities that will get you active and outside. By nature, any summer camp should help your child lose weight, though not all are well-suited for a child with an acute weight problem. Some camps that make casual fitness fun are as follows:
Horseback riding camp is one way to find pleasure out-of-doors and engage in many activities not necessarily fitness-focused.
Kids' golf camp is another low-impact activity that combines fun outdoors with a lot of walking and other incidental exercise.
Baseball camp is another way to engage in less strenuous exercise while staying active.
Kids’ yoga is another ideal way to ease into a more active lifestyle while also mindfully managing your physical activity.
Traditional camps offer a broad slate of activities that shows them fun outdoors, and the joy they can gain in working up a sweat through activities as various as ziplining, swimming, etc.
As an aside, some other low impact activities that let kids ease into exercise include cycling and dance.
Negative attitudes toward these camps stem largely from attitudes south of the border. A Canadian camp will be run with heightened sensitivity, running a curriculum is often remarkably intelligent, with an orientation toward wholeness and wellness.
Advantages of this kind of camp
- An authority that is not a teacher or parent who has business speaking to kids.
- Empowerment
- Holistic approach to fitness
Read more from around the web
“What I learned from summers at fat camp.” Chelsea Kronengold. Jan 19, 2016. teenvogue.com.