The Washington Post ran an article yesterday about Wellspring Academy of the Carolinas, a boarding school for obese children.
First there was fat camp and now there is fat school. The tuition is $6250 per month, which according to the article, is more expensive than a year at Harvard. One mom mentions that the school will “bankrupt” her, but when it comes to her son, “we were looking at that — or his life.”
One of the students came to the school weighing 558 pounds. How on earth does a 15 year old get to be 558 pounds?!
The article mentions that these kids are living in “obesogenic” environments and that unless their families change, the kids are going to gain the weight back once they return home.
The story just made me very sad, both for the kids and their parents. I cannot say it enough–we MUST be a positive and healthy role model for our children. Their lives depend on it.
Check out the full article here and let me know what you think.
{ 16 comments }
*shakes head*
I saw that article. saw the newly coined word. and imagined a world 50 years in the future where childhood obesity is common place.
will we see this as the CALL TO ACTION that it is? and will we take action?
you have NAILED it by the role model statement.
too often we as parents shove our kids toward exercising and eating healthy —- and then we fail to walk the walk.
and then we’re SHOCKED when our kids veer off track.
ok
no more ranting
off to role model, errr, workout.
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Um…do you think maybe the parents should go to some kind of school as well?
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Harvard is less than $7000 a year?? That’s so cheap, maybe I should’ve looked at going to Harvard
I think that if they are going to send kids to a “fat school,” then the parents should definitely be involved in classes and group things with the kids so that they can as a family learn to be healthier. It doesn’t help if at school they only eat good things but as soon as the kid goes home for the summer, mom still cooks fried chicken and cookies all the time. It’s got to be more than just a temporary change.
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I agree, change needs to begin at home! (and PP, I thought the same thing about Harvard!)
You’ve got a typo Lisa. The article says that a MONTH at Wellspring is 6,250. Times that by 12 and you get a yearly rate of 75,000. Which is indeed more than the average 60,000 per year that Harvard costs.
Anyhow, I thought the most heartbreaking part about this article was the quote at the end from the parent who said this would bankrupt them but it was worth it if it saved their son’s life. But it remains to be seen if it really will…
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Ah, the final nudge I need to write a post about kids and weight! (One that’s been percolating in my head for a while now. . . .)
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I have to say, I find it shocking that people would prefer to spend that kind of money in sending their kids to a specialized institution instead of changing their unhealthy patterns AT HOME. I don’t think this is the kind of problem that gets solved by throwing money at it. I cringe at all the messages this sends to the child…
That makes me sad too.
charlotte-thank you for pointing out my mistake (and no wonder it just didn’t make sense in my head!). I made the change above, sorry about that folks! More reason why I shouldn’t read/post things late at night!
There are so many people who are capable of being really good parents. There’s tons of parents who I really admire and who are wonderful role models for their children. So, clearly, it is entirely possible for parents to take care of their children and be great role models. So why is it that there are also so many irresponsible parents out there?! Children don’t understand the importance of being healthy- if they understand a bit, then they generally don’t care too much. Because they’re children. I think it’s really sad that there’s actually parents out there who are that irresponsible.
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You know, we make people take courses and exams and get licensed for all manner of things, but any 13-year old can get pregnant and bear a child. It irks the Bag Lady no end to see irresponsible people allowed to reproduce. She knows it’s a God-given right (urge?) to have children, but sheesh, when she sees some of the damage that is done to children through neglect or irresponsibility, or down-right abuse and hostility, it makes her seethe.
And sending your child to “Fat School” seems like such a cop-out. Is the child going to have to stay there until (s)he’s an adult? Because it seems as though the parents don’t want to take responsibility for trying to help the child, so as soon as (s)he returns home, (s)he will fall right back into the old eating pattern, don’t you think?
The Bag Lady watched a program on TV awhile ago about a similar camp for overweight children. They followed a couple of kids through-out the program, and the mental abuse they suffered at the hands of the adults responsible for them made the Bag Lady want to cry. One boy waited for his grandmother to come on visiting day for hours – it was so sad. The child was so upset, it hurt the Bag Lady’s heart to watch.
Sorry for the long, rambling comment….
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It is a sad issue in our society today. My solution has been to not purchase any junk food for our home and never eat at any fast food restaurants. My kids have been involved in sports since they were little – the only question is which sport – it is not a choice not to be active. I have also worked on teaching them to read the labels. When the kids were little they were each permitted to choose one ‘treat’ item at the grocery store that I would not normally buy for them, but there were still rules – no trans fats for example. My then 9 year old son quickly learned to read the labels and figured out potato chips did not work. The other issue is serving size. I explained it that the food companies were trying to trick people and you had to be smarter and figure out what the right amount to eat was. A bottle of soda might seem like 1 serving but the label may have it as 2.5 servings, so maybe better to choose something else.
But many parents do not have the education, desire, money or time to focus on these issues and the kids get fat. Schools are starting to try to serve more nutritious food but they have a long ways to go. The media is constantly promoting fattening foods. This is not just a problem in the US. With the rise of fast food obesity will eventually spread even to countries like China where is has been unheard of.
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This is wrong on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to even begin. I felt sad for the boy in the side bar on that story who regained all the weight he had lost.
Make healthy eating and active play a habit in your homes, and you won’t need a Fat School. It’s such a simple message. Why is it so hard to understand?
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Wow. A fat school for kids. I had no idea something like that existed.
It always amazes me to see how different each family’s eating habbits are. Some live purely off of fast food. Others eat organic-everything…
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That truly is sad…….
We’re having fun in your neck of the woods!!!! Flew into Dulles a few hours ago!!!
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Totally scary and nuts! I was a fat kid growing growing up so I know how much it sucks, but a FAT SCHOOL? I love my parents, but I grew up on chef boyardee, hungry man TV dinners, and hot dogs.(Granted I was a latch-key kid because my mom was working 2 jobs & going to school.) The point is that it starts at home. Why aren’t they sending these freakin parents to parent school? What happens when the kid comes back home to the same way things were before they left for fat school? Is it up to them to educate the parents?
This pisses me off.
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This is sad! Why don’t they spend the effort of coming up with this hard earned cash into focusing on eating healthy at home and eventually working some exercise into the picture. I mean they could buy extremely healthy food (not to mention a private chef) and a gym membership for less than this! People need to just take some responsibility, especially for their own actions and the horrible results of their actions upon their children!
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