Are weight loss camps appropriate for children under 10?

No

10 of 11

by Amanda Conrad

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There is so much talk about weight loss these days. And it no longer just applies to adults, children and getting pulled into crash dieting under exercising. In some states, they are even sending report cards home from the schools for kids that should "lose" weight.

Although I believe that it is important for the parents to make most decisions concerning a child's well-being, I do not believe that weight loss camps should be offered to young children. We should be teaching our children from the start what are good eating habits and what are not. We should also be encouraging exercise from the start.

children are already exposed to so much criticism from the media on weight loss. Our young celebrities are starving themselves, magazine models look like they have forgotten how to eat, and children hear their parents talk about losing weight. Weight loss is becoming a huge concern for the innocent minds of young children. Some children start out a little pudgy and the even out as they get older, others won't. But making weight loss such a huge issue only encourages crash dieting and eating disorders.

I was in shock a couple weeks ago when my 9 year old sister came up to me and casually said her butt was big in a conversation. She went on to tell me about how she can't wear some of her pants because it just makes her look fat. I tried to explain to her that she wasn't fat, but she was convinced that she had a big butt. She couldn't tell me where she got this idea from, because she doesn't know. My sister is not fat, she is of average weight, but because society makes such a huge deal out of weight she will probably never see herself as she is.

Teach your kids good habits and they will hold on to them for a lifetime. Don't send them off for someone else to deal with. We have to teach our kids the things we want them to know, because if we don't, someone will teach them the exact opposite. Weight loss camps are NOT the answer to getting kids at a healthy weight, but encouraging good behaviors in a positive way is.

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