Family raises money to send obese children to weight-loss camp

[Bertha Venation]

I posted this in the Editorials & Articles forum. I hope it's okay to post the same thing in two boards -- it belongs there, but it belongs here too, and will get a lot more attention and discussion here, I hope.

the article -- Washington Post

"Big Louie" had been a well-known figure in Alexandria, where he ran the city's impound lot for 46 years. Weighing more than 500 pounds, he was so heavy that . . . .

It was painful to go out in public with his dad, son Louis H. Yuhasz recalled. "You become so much more acutely aware of the stares -- staring and leering and whispers," he said.

~snip~

Now, the Yuhasz siblings have a mission. As the number of obese children rises nationwide, the family is trying to change the lives of at least a few local overweight youngsters -- including the three girls raptly listening to Louis Yuhasz on this summer Saturday -- by awarding them scholarships to weight-loss camp.

~snip~

Called "Louie's Kids," the $14,000 scholarship fund -- which the Yuhasz family scraped together with their own money and donations from friends -- sent seven children to the "healthy living" Wellspring Adventure Camp in the North Carolina mountains . . . .

~snip~

Big Louie died in 2001 after suffering his second stroke in five months. During that five-month period, his children shuttled him "from hospital to hospital trying to find one willing to take such a heavy patient, and doctors couldn't diagnose his stroke properly because there was no CAT machine big enough to hold him."

Gathering money -- giving money -- to sponsor kids who want/need to go to such camps is a great concept, and I hope to hook up with the Yuhasz family to see if I can donate to their next round of scholarships or otherwise help.

I was a fat kid -- began to gain weight at age 12 -- and never tried seriously to lose weight until I began a program in late July this year. I'm 41 years old.

If the subject of childhood (or adult) obesity interests you, or if you are curious as to why parents don't just buckle down or kids don't just exercise, please read the article. It won't answer all of your questions; it's not really designed to. But it may make it a little more clear as to why some of us can't lose weight "simply" by eating right and exercising. It is far more complicated than that for many obese people.

The article ends sadly, IMO. The last line is a quote from one of the children who received a scholarship and went to the camp:

"'The only reason why I'm doing it is because you're pushing me,' she said to her mom."

The child must not value herself at all. Reading the article, reading about her family -- who continued to eat crap all around her on "movie night" while she had to try to be content with yogurt -- it's small wonder. :eyes:

[Nikia]

1. Parents have to be supportive of their kids in weight loss

They need to supply healthy food, eat somewhat healthy themselves, and either exercise or find people to exercise with their kids.
Of course this girl is going to have a tough time keeping the weight off and losing more if her family is eating junk.

[Bertha Venation]

2. That's what pissed me off so about the article.

Brittaney is doomed, I'm afraid. She lives with, among others, her grandmother who makes gargantuan fat-filled down-home family-style farm breakfasts. Well, it'd make sense to eat that way at 5:00 AM if they actually all lived and worked on a farm.

She also lives with her uncles, and the mom and grandmother said, "oops, we've got two cheesecakes in the freezer, maybe they'll be gone by the time we get back" from picking the girl up from camp. You idiots!

[Bertha Venation]

3. kick

:kick:

[noonwitch]

4. I have mixed feelings about those weight loss camps

Most overweight kids need to eat healthier and get more exercise, of course. Sending them to a camp for overweight kids, as opposed to a regular camp focusing on outdoor activities stigmatizes them. If the kid wants to go, it's one thing. On the whole, I'm opposed to segregating overweight kids into their own camp-psychologically speaking, I think it just contributes to further isolation of the kid from his or her peers.

[MissMillie]

5. Most overweight people know what they need to do

to lose weight.

The problem is correcting bad behavior.

Most people eat for all the wrong reasons: stress, boredom, celebration, "because it's there".

Overweight people need training in being "mindful" about whether they're hungry, and "mindful" about what, when, why and how they are eating.

[Nikia]

6. A kids family can make it difficult

Parents are usually the one's buying the majority of the household's food and thus the child eats what is there. If there are bags of chips and cookies around, the child will be less liely to eat them. If the main meal is lower calorie, the child is more likely to lose weight than if it is higher calorie regardless of how much food the child takes. If the parents snack a lot in front of the television or at movies or sporting events, the child is probably going to want to eat too.
A parent may either encourage or discourage a child's interest in sports and exercise type activities. For example if a 12 year old wants to join the basketball team, that usually requires some committment from the parents, at least for transportation.

[Wapsie B]

7. Exactly.

When I was still living at home I wanted to start walking and jogging to try to lose weight. Dad just threw a fit. Now he's the first one telling me I'm too heavy.

[Bog Frog]

9. You wanted to walk and jog to lose weight, and your Dad threw a fit?

He didn't approve of exercise?

[Wapsie B]

10. He thought it would

give me asthma attacks to exert myself like that.

[Bertha Venation]

8. I agree with you in part.

For a lot of us -- including me -- it really isn't that simple.

On some level we know our eating behavior is out of control. But a lot of us haven't the vaguest idea of how to begin to control it. We say to ourselves, "all I have to do is eat right and exercise. All I have to do is not eat when I'm honestly not hungry. All I have to do is realize that two pounds of food on my plate is probably too much." All those things are common sense.

But beyond that: it's a mental problem that makes it nearly impossible to get past those concessions to action. Not to say obese people are mentally fubar, but it really is an emotional/mental thing for some of us, and we need that much more help to put the "common sense" cures into motion.

[franmarz]

11. Obesity-may have different causes

There may be a metabolic problem, or there may be a family problem, meaning some people can control their eating, and some cannot.
If the problem is checked by a physician, and no problem is located, then the problem is in the concious effort of the person.
Really, it is very difficult to eat a small meal while at the table with a large family eating great amounts. No one has been able to solve this so far. My sympathies go out to them.