Fat Camps as a Stereotype

There are many negative stereotypes of a “fat camp” in our popular culture:

• In the Disney movie Heavyweights, a group of kids discover their summer camp has been sold to a crazy fitness fanatic, played by Ben Stiller, who turns it into a boot camp-style fat camp.

• In the play, The Good Body, Eve Ensler takes on the role of a self-loathing teenager at fat camp.

• In the book Fat Camp Commandos by Daniel Pinkwater, children are tricked into attending the wretched fat camp “Camp Noo Yoo” and hatch an escape plan.

• In the Fat Camp episode of South Park, Mrs. Cartman holds an intervention for her son's eating problem and sends him to fat camp, where he sells candy to kids.

• Lauren Greenfield's Girl Culture photography exhibit shows two side by side "before and after" photos that illustrate another fat camp stereotype. In the first picture, the girls are slightly overweight but smiling, in good spirits, dressed in brightly colored clothes, with their arms around each other. The second picture shows the same girls noticeably thinner, wearing drab clothes and drab expressions.

• In an episode of The Simpsons, Homer falls off a cliff into the lake and drifts to the shores of "Camp Flab-Away," which featured Quimby, Wiggum and Comic Book Guy as some of the overweight campers.

Changing the Mindset of Children and Teens about "Fat Camps"

When we think of “fat camp”, we think of a place where desperate, overweight children are sent against their will. Their “punishment” for being fat is near-starvation and forced exercise in depressing surroundings. Fat camp is a judgmental, unfriendly and unpleasant experience.

However, the reality of fat camp is often very different. The best “fat camp” is a traditional summer camp, with all the activities, sports and special events that the best-equipped traditional camps have. They work on learning and improving physical skills so that campers can pursue activities after camp, they teach nutrition so that campers can make healthier food choices at home, and they work on self-esteem issues so that help campers build confidence in their ability to succeed.

A good “fat camp” will promote improving health for the long-term, not losing as much weight as possible in the shortest time possible. At Camp Shane, for instance, they do not care if you are 0, 10 or 50 pounds overweight - in fact, they have many campers who have achieved normal weight but return for the good times and good friends.

The "Fat Camp" Makeover

The “fat camp” mentality is part of a culture that demands makeovers - the faster and more extreme the better. But a good “fat camp” will work to internalize the changes that make losing weight about better health choices – NOT thinness at any cost. They encourage their campers to want to look their best - healthy and fit.

Some children don’t tell their friends they are going to weight loss camp because of the “fat camp” stigma, and who can blame them? But when they return home, healthier, more confident, and yes, thinner, they love to share stories of the great time they had, and their pride in what they have accomplished.