Jezebel
Wellspring Academy of the Carolinas costs $6,250 a month, which means staying there a year costs more than a year at Harvard, according to the Washington Post. Wellspring is a "highly structured therapeutic boarding school for rapid weight loss and intensive behavior therapy." It's fat camp meets boarding school, and kids there do lose weight: Terry Henry enrolled in September 2004 when he was 15. At the time, he weighed 558 pounds. He left 15 months later weighing 253 pounds and today weighs about 278 pounds. But not all stories are success stories. And author Stephanie Klein has a new book, Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp, in which she recalls the awful reality of being an overweight teen. The most surprising thing about fat camp, Klein tells Newsweek, was that "They weighed us on meat scales. The kids who were too heavy got weighed on a truck scale at the truck stop." It was, in a word, "Humiliating."
She continues: "It's unbelievable to me, even to this day. They had barbed wire all around camp to keep us in so we didn't sneak out at night to go find food elsewhere. One parent sent menus from local restaurants nearby. Because we were so deprived, we would at night read the menu items out loud and imagine how they tasted."
Though Wellspring has success stories, it also has kids like Jahcobie Cosom, 18, of Dorchester, Mass. Cosom lost 167 pounds at the school and 30 during his first month home. But he's gained 260 pounds in less than a year and now weighs 562 lbs. (He is scheduled to undergo gastric bypass surgery this summer.) Still, parents who have tried everything see "therapeutic boarding school" as their last chance. "It will bankrupt us to do this," says one mom whose 17-year-old son weighs 300 pounds and suffers from high blood pressure. "But we were looking at that — or his life."
As for Klein, she says she's fed up with "fatnalysis."
People can analyze it to death. People can say you're fat because you're filling a void, or you eat for all these emotional reasons. I said I don't need to focus on this anymore. It doesn't matter why I'm fat. Let's fix it. I don't think fixing it involves searching into my past and analyzing every last reason why I like cheese. It's much more important for me to focus on my daily habits and what can I do to possibly change certain habits and give myself tools to get through whatever I have to get through. Especially as a child, you don't need to hear about it all the time. Focus on developing talents.
Here's a question: Anyone can lose weight when they're taken out of their usual environment. How can you be sure a camp or "therapeutic school" is going to work long term? And is it worth bankruptcy to find out?
'Fat School' [Washington Post]
Fatgirl Slim [Newsweek]
Comments
If there is a boy that weighs more than 500lbs, then yes.
If it's regular fat then probably not.
It won't work for the vast majority of people because it takes place in an unrealistic (and seemingly hostile, judging by those quotes) environment which people can't possibly recreate at home. I would imagine that it's about as healthy as The Biggest Loser.
I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I'm wondering what in the hell is going on that a 15-year-old can reach 500 pounds and then the parents think there's a problem. I understand that sending the kid away is a last resort, especially when this much money and *barbed wire* is involved, but if it were my kid (and I don't have any) I would probably do something before, maybe, 400 pounds.
I kind of agree with the "fatnaylsis" to a certain extent. Analyzing the behaviors that have led to the obesity makes a lot of sense to me. But I'm no nutritionist or psychiatrist.
WHAT?
"One parent sent menus from local restaurants nearby. Because we were so deprived, we would at night read the menu items out loud and imagine how they tasted."
What kind of sadist sends their child to a fat camp and then sends them menus?!?!?!?! Evil.
@sarrible: Like what exactly? A child is a human being with their own thoughts and will. You can't just command them to do something.
"It will bankrupt us to do this," says one mom. Well I guess the 'I-can't-eat-because-there's-no-food-in-the-house-because-my-parents'-are-bankrupt-because-of-my-diet' diet, will help her daughter keep off the weight once she leaves the boarding school.
In my opinion, something like this is not going to work in the long run unless the teen seriously wants to lose weight. Otherwise he or she will be miserable and will revert to his or her old habits at the first opportunity.
The idea of shaming or forcing someone into losing weight is not going to be successful for most people. Until someone decides he or she is ready to lose weight and really wants it, it won't work.
I don't feel like I have anything like the qualification to say what parents should do under those circumstances, or what I would do if it were my kid. What I do see, though, is that the potential for abuse and humiliation seems enormous, that the expense is downright obscene, and that if it isn't a medical issue, that perhaps family therapy is in order. I don't see what isn't pathological about a parent willing to bankrupt themselves and send their kid away from home long-term to deal with this. I can only imagine the rejection and abandonment I would have felt if my parents had done this, not to mention the guilt from knowing I was doing so much financial harm to my family, which would have added to the hurt I felt from my parents, that they would burden me with having burdened the family that way. I feel like eating a vat of ice cream just thinking about it.
@sarrible: I am wondering the same thing. It's one thing as an adult to make your own choices, but I don't think I even really made my own food choices until I was at least 15. There really wasn't an option for me to have access to enough food for me to weight 500+ pounds at 15.
Where are the parents in this?
I would wonder if, in some ways, it is comforting to be around people who have the same issues you do. High school is a mean, mean place and if these "camps" are done right, isn't it therapeutic to be surrounded by similar people who are all working towards a common goal?
I am legitimately curious, not trying to project on a situation that I know nothing about.
Maybe I'm playing with fire here, but how are places like this any different than places that treat eating disorders (excluding strictly medical hospitals)?
In the ED unit, they line you up and weigh you in paper gowns, they conduct random contraband searches, and you are not really allowed to leave until they say you can, or your insurance runs out.
And they work, too. You gain weight. But probably too fast to process psychologically. The revolving doors at ED units spin very fast.
I've never been to a "fat camp" but I've been on an ED unit. And if this was a post talking about Renfrew or Radar, would anyone bat an eyelash?
Just sayin.
1. The big question is, will kids be able to maintain a healthier lifestyle? Or is it a temporary fix? Personally, I think that fat camp is cruel and unnecessary. And I don't think that cruelty and humiliation leads to healthy eating and exercise.
2. I've had that book on reserve at the library for 5 months. Where fuck is it?
3. Heavy Weights is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Tony Perkis: Did you ever hear the story of Icarus, who continually rolled the ball up the hill? But when he got too close, the ball melted in the heat of the Sun. You're all like Icarus.
I don't know about a boarding school, but from what I have learned from watching MTV documentaries on "Fat Camp," it doesn't work so well since most of the campers return the following year having gained the weight back (if not more.) What about when these kids go to college and instead of health foods in the cafeteria there's pizza and chicken nuggets?
Oh, no. Oh, no.
A teen getting a gastric bypass?
I am going to forget this entire article.
I personally don't think it's about taking them out of the environment - because eventually, they'll have to return to that environment and learn how to function there. The "taking them away" part just helps them not have access to certain things - kinda like prison. Sure, you might not have access to coke (which is what landed you there), but when they let you go, coke hasn't disappeared from your neighborhood - you have to learn how to deal with it there.
I think what helps people lose it and keep it off is having a better relationship with food, informed about what's in the food that they normally consumed, and learning to appreciate how their new foods make them feel (even if it does take months to get there).
I used to be a junk food fanatic - but after I learned exactly what was in it and exactly what high fructose corn syrup looks like BEFORE they put it in your soda, I learned to adjust. Haven't lost a WHOLE lot of weight, but I loathe exercising. So...
@MaeHemm: I know. But at that age, the parents are probably still preparing at least one of the kid's meals a day. And doing the grocery shopping. Even when the kid is a teenager, I think they still have a responsibility to keep an eye on the child's health, and that includes what they are and aren't eating at home, at school, with their friends.
The more you concentrate on the food and the fat, the more the child feels pressure and doesn't tackle the addictive behavior. There are reasons kids overeat and I don't necessarily think sending them away to solve the problem will help. I'm sure at home you could spend less money on a nutritionist and a therapist. Secluding the other child with other children and saying, "Here, this is how you are defined. Simply as a fat person" will not help in the long run, in my opinion, and only make the issue worse.
My mom use to shove me outside when I was younger and lock the door. If I was thirsty I had the water hose. I would have to wait till dinner to eat.
kids are so lazy nowadays. I was forced to play and they should too.
how does a kid weigh 567 pounds. I truly don't think its him being lazy. There has to be something else going on.
@MaeHemm: True, but my parents did (and should have) controlled my diet quite carefully when I was still underage and in their house. They didn't buy sugary or salty snacks and they fed us balanced meals. I know that this doesn't always work, but in a lot of cases this would help prevent overweight kids. My parents didn't COMMAND ME to remain at a good weight, but it's not like they are powerless to control what their kids are eating.
I guess the question is, do the kids want to go. If they want to lose weight, something like this can jump-start the process in a supportive environment. If they're forced into it by family or doctors, though, I can't help but think it'll just hurt more in the long run.
you can't be "sure" any weight loss measure is going to work long-term-even surgical ones like gastric bypass.
I think fat camps or what have you can be good jumping off points for people who need to lose a lot of weight. Like, if you see results quickly, it makes you motivated to continue to lose weight. But it seems like that 'fatnalysis' is necessary for translating the weight loss process from the specialized environment to the home. Otherwise, all the temptations and triggers to slip back into old habits still exist, and without the restrictive environment that helped the weight loss occur in the first place, the person doesn't have any coping mechanisms to fall back on. However, if the camps or schools or whatever are all as restrictive as the one described, then it seems like kids would almost certainly gain the weight back simply as a way of rebelling. And obviously, that's just counter-productive.
I think changing your environment helps to aid in weight loss. Sometimes you need a drastic change in order to shake yourself out of old habits.
I was overweight as a teen, and moving out of my dad's house (where there was nothing but junk to eat) is what set me on the path to a healthier lifestyle. Just my 2 cents.
"whoever said war is hell has never been to fat camp." -heavyweights
@layladylan: Exactly. It's like rehab. Unless you really want to quit, when you get out, within a few weeks or months, you'll be right back on Colfax avenue blowing guys for a gram.*
Not like I know this from experierience.
But Seriously, sending menus is like sending a drug-addict a list of drugs and their physiological affects, and states of uphoria they induce. Fucked up.
Umm, if your kid weighs 500 pounds, maybe you should be talking to him more. Is he sneaking away from home to eat? Is he eating that much at home? Either way, it's a destructive behavior--one that parents should discuss with their children.
The same issue with "fatnalysis" is one I have with psychotherapy in general. Finding out I wasn't loved enough as a child doesn't really help me solve my problems. It's important to talk about that and understand what the situation was, but ultimately, what I need is help changing my destructive behavior. And that takes place through small steps taken as a part of every day living.
@MaeHemm: To a certain extent you're correct. However, 15 year olds can't legally work and someone has to buy food for them. So...Mom and Dad need to start buying healthy snacks instead of allowing the kids to gorge on...whatever they're gorging on.
@AllanaSmithee: And yeah...I'm not understanding that one either. At all.
@dancingteacups: Eeezackly. There's quote somewhere about needing to acquire skills that are going to work once you're outside a certain environment.
"Wellspring Academy of the Carolinas costs $6,250 a month, which means staying there a year costs more than a year at Harvard" which means (in great and general part and broadly stated, so plz no one go to "idiotz at Harvurd") yet another iteration of our culture's valuation of thinness over, say, skillz and branez.
Can't wait to watch this thread morph like a sandworm from Arrakis.
The whole "let's not address why I'm fat" thing is kind of ridiculous, in my opinion. It seems to me that it's about self-respect and self-worth, and when you're fat and constantly told you're worthless and unattractive and lazy and stupid because of it, it's hard to want to do anything about it.
I'm not saying this applies to everybody. I'm a fat girl, but according to my doctor, I'm healthy. I get plenty of exercise, eat mostly good stuff. But for a long long long time I struggled with feeling kind of doomed because I didn't know I was worth enough to be happy with who I was.
So, in short, I think you CAN'T ignore why people are making potentially self-destructive choices. Overeating can be the same thing as cutting yourself with a razor blade or something. It's way too complicated a question to answer, I guess, and everyone is different.
Judging by the video, the principal of the school puts the hippo in hypocrite.
@Rhody: That one camp that was featured on MTV seemed like it had a really positive atmosphere. When I look at something like that, I think it's positive to send a child to a camp where they can befriend kids with similar issues, but a boarding school? That just involves way too much of their lives and seems to be too much.
Have we learned nothing from "Heavyweights", that '90's hit starring Ben Stiller as manager/evil dictator of a fat camp?
I agree that it's similar to an ED program. It's my opinion that no one can weight 500+ pounds "naturally." There are other issues that need to be addressed.
@sarrible: No kidding. One does not get to 500+ lbs eating reasonable portions of home-cooked meals featuring at least one ingredient found in nature.
@MaeHemm: Last time I checked, most 15 year olds are pretty dependant on their parents for meals and/or cash. It's pretty well established that parents who encourage healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle raise healthier kids. [familydoctor.org]
[www.dairycouncilofca.org]
@noseriously: I saw some Discovery Health show about teens getting gastric bypass, and it was sad. One boy got the procedure and then kept sneaking snickers bars at school. Hard to imagine a kid that age having the will power to adjust to the extreme portion control required.
@Political Party Girl: A student of mine went vegetarian because he found the meat selection in the dorms repulsive and it "couldn't compare to mom's cooking." I got the impression that once he moved into an apartment he'd be ordering in constantly, or, I don't know, starving to death. Learn some survival skills, kids! Teach some, parents!
weight = weigh
@sarrible: That's the thing about fat, it sneaks up on you. Everyone wishes they could have done something about it ___lbs ago, but the reality for fat kids is that they essentially wake up and realize they're different.
True Life at Camp Shane is one of my favorite episodes!
@somnambulent: I was thinking the same thing...God, I'll never forget when I had a "pass" and was reprimanded for coming back smelling of coffee...or girls being accused of shaking their legs too much. I feel very lucky that I have been able to stay out of there (even though I probably should have returned a few times) but about half of my hospital friends have been in and out for the four years following my departure and will continue to do so until they're too old for that particular unit.
I hope they focus on health and give the students good (and maybe specialized?) medical care. Because sometimes people gain weight because of a medical condition and all their doctors tell them is "Exercise. Eat less." Then 4 years later, through a routine blood test, maybe they find it's their thyroid's fault! Of course, by that time they're already way overweight and pissed! Not that I'd... um... know anything about that first hand or anything.
/rant
The price is absurd. For $6,000 a month you can have a trainer every day and the entire family's food delivered by the zone, so nobody is singled out.
I was 5'4" and weight 140 pounds as a teenager. Everyone told me I was fat and analyzed it to DEATH. But 500 lbs or 300 lbs is too much. These kids need medical intervention, not fat camp (or in this case, fat school). Gastric bypass is the only weight loss method that has long term success. And as a life-long dieter, I can truly say that diets do not work.
@bess marvin, girl detective: YES! I thought I was the only one who quoted that movie.
COME HERE YOU DEVIL LOG!
@Marscinema: 30 lbs sneaks up on you. 400 lbs is not a surprise.
I just want to add that it's HARD to lose weight and keep it off. And I think so much of it is genetics. We were always outside when I was little, no chips or cookies or soda, never any fast food. And I was still always way overweight, all the way through college. It wasn't until I was really "on my own" that I lost a ton of it. The problem of course is that it never ends, I still have so much to lose, and now I have to severely limit what and how much I eat. You have to completely change the way you eat...forever, which sucks, b/c bad food tastes so so good.
I feel for these, it's not going to get easier.
@AllanaSmithee: Right? That is twisted.
And I'm on the fence about this...on one hand, I feel like you shouldn't send kids there if they don't want to go. But then if they are 558 FUCKING POUNDS at 15, they seriously have huge health problems and need to do something drastic about it. So I guess, let it continue.
And even if they don't keep the weight off, at least they've learned techniques and ways to do so. And at least it will take them a lot longer to get back to 558 FUCKING POUNDS.
But I do think they should address the issues making them fat. Which will help keep the weight off long-term.
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