Acute physiological outcomes of a children’s weight-loss camp using exercise and dietary therapy

Childhood obesity is rapidly increasing, with few effective interventions currently available. It is therefore prudent to establish the efficacy of a range of possible intervention options. Sixty-five obese children were enrolled in the program and compared with 42 normal-weight children. They were assessed for a range of anthropometric, fitness, and metabolic variables (subsample n=10). Children in the intervention group participated in a range of recreational activities including six one-hour skill-based fun-type activities, moderate dietary restriction, and three weekly educational sessions. Significant group by time interactions on all measures showed that the campers improved all variables compared to their normal-weight peers. In addition, paired t-tests showed significant (p < 0.05) improvements in several of the metabolic variables. The program was successful in achieving significant improvements in indicators of health and well-being, whereas such changes were not found in the free-living comparison group. Follow-up studies are currently underway to assess the longer-term impact of this program. Keywords: obesity, weight-loss camp, children, exercise therapy, recreational therapy, diet, behavior modification.