Kids and healthy lifestyles: how camps can help.

Child Obesity: A National Public Health Problem

As the child obesity epidemic rears its overweight head across the nation, affecting one in five children, camps can play a vital role in the rescue efforts by being a knowledgeable, safe support system. All sectors of camps can offer assistance to parents and children through nutritional support, educational programs, and leadership that promote good health and physical activity.

Research has shown that poor diet and lack of exercise are the leading causes of preventable adult death in the U.S. and are surpassed only by tobacco use. A study in the March New England Journal of Medicine found that as childhood obesity becomes increasingly prevalent, the current generation of children may "live less healthful and shorter lives than their parents" for the first time in United States history.

World experts have recognized that obesity "is a complex disease with genetic, metabolic, and behavioral determinants," (USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion), and camps can definitely be a part of the behavioral determinant sector of the solution. As the world is now acknowledging that obesity affects life expectancy, diabetes, high blood pressure, self-esteem, and many other crucial life issues, recognizing the public health problem and epidemic that it is can help correct the path our nation's children are on. Researchers from the University of Illinois in Chicago contend that if the current levels of childhood obesity remain "unchecked," obesity-related complications such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease will result in today's children living "two to five years less than they otherwise would."

"Diabesity": Not a New Disease

"Diabesity," a phrase trademarked by Shape Up America founder and former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, reveals a frightening connection between the dual problems of obesity and type 2 diabetes. This new catch-phrase is further presented in a "call to action" book, Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic that Threatens Americans--and What We Must Do to Stop It, recently written by Dr. Francine Kaufman, past president of the American Diabetes Association and head of the Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. In her impassioned portrayal of personal and clinical accounts surrounding the world of diabetes and obesity, Dr. Kaufman offers critical advice for our generation: "To stop the diabesity epidemic, the new normal must become not just an individual but a societal choice."

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles developed a practical program for kids and their families called KidsNFitness, where children play games that help them identify good food choices, encouraging them to watch less TV and become more physically active, which motivates parents to be good motivators and good examples. The program also included warm-up exercises and dances.

Dr. Kaufman, a longtime supporter of children and camp programs with her connection and dedication to Camp Chinook in Southern California, explains that "the new normal must be supported by our schools, our work places, our communities, our healthcare system, and our government."

One of the alarming statistics Dr. Kaufman's book details is that "the food industry spends approximately $25 billion a year on advertising ... more than half is spent marketing to American children." One of the many ideas Dr. Kaufman poses to affect positive change is to use the mass media for education. Simply put, "we can create positive messages celebrating the new normal--a lifestyle that includes exercise and healthy eating and drinking."

How Did It Happen?

The effects of overeating and under-exercising are staggering, but camps have a role to play in addressing this public health problem and in encouraging healthy eating and active living among campers and staff. Statistics from the last seventy years show that society's…