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Published on: 8/14/2001
Last Visited: 5/21/2002
According to Tony Sparber, co-owner of the New Image Weight-Loss Camps, and co-director at Camp Pocono Trails, a co-ed fitness camp for ages 7 to 18 located in the Poconos, "If the parents were more involved, in a lot of cases you wouldn't have the proliferation of overweight children there is today.I don't blame it on genetics so much as bad habits.Their parents are setting bad examples; a lot of parents don't exercise and eat right."
While childhood obesity is not necessarily a parent's "fault," it is their responsibility.Those extra pounds can be dangerous, even in children as young as 5 or 6 years old.And it's not simply a case of cosmetics.
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Says Sparber, "There are a lot of options available today where you don't have to go on a diet.If you don't bring junk in the house, then the kids won't miss it."
That being said, there are some food items commonly used by many parents that have health experts cringing.
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Sparber, whose 7-year-old boy has accompanied him to his Camp Pocono Trails weight-loss camp since he was 6 months old, agrees that overweight children need to become more active."Get these kids involved in activities," he says."Have them enrolled in activities after school.It's important to have your child enrolled in a group support situation.If you are financially well off, I'd recommend a personal trainer.Parents don't hesitate to spend money on a Nintendo, yet they consider spending on their child's health a luxury."
But whatever you decide to do to promote fitness in your child, says Sparber, "it has to be fun.If it's too clinical or too complicated, the kids will be turned off."But exercise and activity is instinctual with most younger children, so getting them excited about play shouldn't be too difficult.And if they are started in life with the idea that exercise is fun, it should carry over into adulthood.
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I'm a great believer in positive reinforcement," says Sparber."Kids need to be constantly told that they're beautiful or that they're smart.Instead of focusing on what the kids can't do, focus on what they can do.Put kids in an environment that they'll be comfortable in.If you have a child that's a poor athlete, don't put him in an advanced sports program."
Make sure you're involved with your child's fitness journey.
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Parental involvement is key, says Sparber: "I'm a very hands-on father, and my wife is a very hands-on mother; and I think that's one of the reasons why my son will never have a weight problem."
Sparber, who was overweight as a child, first became involved with fitness through his father's weight-loss camp (one of the first in the U.S.) when he was 15 years old.
The program really changed my life," he says."It really helped my self-esteem.It was a personal turning point in my life.
"I see firsthand how weight loss can change kids' perceptions of themselves."
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