http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/08/27/weight.camp.ap/index.html

Families lose weight together at camp

Story Highlights

* Parents' activities include cooking and exercise classes, how to shop for
food
* Cost is roughly $5,000 to $9,000, depending on the camp and length of
stay
* Camps have therapy to explain why people overeat and how to manage stress

PAUL SMITHS, New York (AP) -- It took Kelsey Galer four weeks at a
weight-loss camp to lose 9 pounds. It took her dad just three days to start
acting like a "dork."

"He wears his pedometer around all the time," said Galer. "He's just really
into it with the family workshop he went to."

Her weight-loss camp and others are inviting mom, dad and siblings to share
the camp experience so they can help campers stay motivated when they
return home where unhealthy temptations and habits lurk.

For her father, Michael Galer, and 16-year-old sister, Kyla, that meant a
three-day family workshop at the end of Kelsey's stay at Wellspring Camp
for young women in New York's Adirondack Mountains.

They got an induction into the 18-year-old's new, healthier lifestyle. Her
father found himself doing aerobics and using a stability ball for yoga
during the family session. Her sister cheered as Kelsey climbed to the top
of a towering pine tree and flew down a zip-line.

Back home in Canton, Massachusetts, the whole family has been reaping the
benefits: Her father lost 8 pounds, and now Kyla joins her at the gym.
Within days, they were planning healthier grocery lists.

Wellspring is one of several weight-loss camps that add some family
participation to the standard menu of exercise and healthy diets.
Wellspring's camp in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and the Pritikin program in
Aventura, Florida, offer programs that include family members for the
entire camp session.

But all that attention comes at a price: Roughly $5,000 to $9,000,
depending on the camp and length of stay.

At the Adirondack camp, visiting family members join campers in the
mornings for a long walk and at every meal. The rest of the time, parents
attend classes on cooking, exercise and how to shop for healthy food.
Siblings can tag along with campers to watch the daily activities.

"That had a big impression on her," Kelsey Galer said of her sister's visit
to camp. "She just got a taste of my new lifestyle. We had spent a lot of
time together (before camp), but it was never time like that -- being
active and eating healthy."

The results of a three-year Wellspring survey of campers suggests that
family support is beneficial, according to Daniel Kirschenbaum, Wellspring
clinical director. The campers who reported having strong family support or
used the post-camp program did better at maintaining or continuing to lose
weight than those without strong support.

At the Wellspring camp in Pinehurst, North Carolina, about 60 miles
southwest of Raleigh, parents join children between the ages of 5 and 14
for sessions that include sports, personal training and a spa.

Therapy is part of both programs to help people understand why they overeat
and how to manage stress. Parents learn how to motivate their children to
be healthy instead of discouraging them or emphasizing bad body image.

Dr. Chris Bolling, who heads the weight loss program at Cincinnati
Children's Hospital Medical Center, said fat is a family affair.

"You have to model good behavior," he said. "We know this for all sorts of
behavior in kids. You don't tell kids to do one thing and then do something
else ... kids, very quickly, pick up on it when their parents aren't
practicing what they're preaching."

The Pritikin Program near Miami offers a family camp that promotes exercise
and a diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seafood, nonfat
dairy foods, and limited lean meat. Children also take cooking classes and
go on field trips to learn about things like finding healthy options at the
mall.

Priscilla Marquard has taken her triplets -- 12-year-olds Caroline, Alex
and Audrey -- to the Pritikin family camp each summer for the past three
years. The girls have always been a healthy weight, but she saw it as an
opportunity to reinforce healthy habits as a family.

"You can really put them in a room full of unhealthy food, somehow they're
going to find a way to eat healthy," said Marquard, of Orlando, Florida.

Her daughter Audrey concurs: "I loved Oreos, and now I can't even look at
that stuff."

Kelsey Galer had tried to lose weight before by exercising but without much
success. The 5-foot teenager started camp at 170 pounds and lost about 9
pounds in a month. About three weeks after leaving camp, she had dropped 12
more pounds. She has followed up with the camp, logging her food intake,
exercise and weight online. She can also reach out to counselors if she
needs additional help or motivation.

She said the support has helped her stay on track and get ready for college
in the fall.

"It would have been a lot harder. I probably would have had a really hard
time sticking to the diet and staying motivated," she said. "It's really
good to know that other people want you to succeed. "