A fat camp, weight loss camp, or fat farm is a type of residential program where people who are

overweight Being overweight is having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. , excess weight reached epidemic proportions globally, with more than ...

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

go to attempt to lose weight through exercise and lifestyle changes.

Overview

One goal of weight loss camps is to help the guests lose weight. Some programs not only focus on weight loss, but on changing behavior through a combination of training on self-regulatory behaviors and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), as well as maintaining weight loss after campers return home. Some experts believe these are key elements of an effective program. One study found that adolescents reported decreased body shape dissatisfaction and increased

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

immediately after losing weight at a weight loss camp. These improvements were directly related to the amount of weight lost, with the greatest benefit to those adolescents who lost the most weight.

In popular culture

Multiple films and television shows have featured or mentioned programs such as these, including:

Films

* '' Fat Camp: An MTV Docs Movie Presentation'' (2006), a documentary television film about five teens at a camp called Camp Pocono Trails (CPT), in the

Pocono Mountains The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos (), are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the nort ...

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

. * ''

Heavyweights ''Heavyweights'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill and written by Brill with Judd Apatow. It stars Tom McGowan, Aaron Schwartz, Shaun Weiss, Tom Hodges, Leah Lail, Paul Feig, Kenan Thompson, David Bowe, Max Goldbl ...

'' (1995), an American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

centered around a camp for kids that is taken over by a fitness

guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

. * ''

The Goonies ''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus based on a story by Steven Spielberg and starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin (in his film debut), Jeff Cohen ...

'' (1985), While being interrogated by the film's antagonists, Chunk confesses he was kicked out of a fat camp for going on a feeding frenzy during lunch.

Television

* Multiple episodes of

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

mention that Monica Geller, who used to be overweight before the beginning of the show, went to fat camp in her youth. * "Fat Camp" (''South Park''), season 4, episode 15 of the animated television series ''South Park'', original airdate December 6, 2000: in the episode, Cartman is sent to lose weight at a fat camp where he discovers a different way to earn money. *''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser (American TV series), The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and Obesity, obese contestants attempting to lose ...

'', a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

format which started with the American TV series ''

'' in 2004, which centers on

and

participants competing against each other to lose the highest percentage of weight (or most weight) to become the "biggest loser". *'' Huge'' is an American fictional TV series that aired in 2010, starring Nikki Blonsky as a teenager who is sent to a weight loss camp against her will. It was developed by Winnie Holzman and Savannah Dooley. *''

Heavy Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, a wake turbulence category used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass of 136,000 kgs or mo ...

'' is an American

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

that aired on A&E. The series is filmed at th
Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort
and chronicles the

weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat (adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other conn ...

efforts of people with severe

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

. It ran for one season, from January 17 to April 4, 2011. *

Killer Queen (Family Guy) "Killer Queen" is the sixteenth episode of the Family Guy season 10, tenth season of the animated cartoon, animated television comedy, comedy series ''Family Guy'', and the 181st episode overall. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, F ...

Season 10, Episode 16 of the animated FOX sitcom Family Guy, Peter and Chris Griffin attend a weight loss camp, but when some other campers are found dead, the blame falls on Lois Griffin's brother, Patrick Pewterschmit, as he was imprisoned for the murder of obese people. *One of the suspects in the first episode of ''Columbo'' season 3 ("''Lovely but Lethal''") runs a fat farm, which is presented in the episode as a kind of cult.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fat Camp Management of obesity Summer camps

Overview

In popular culture

Films

Television

See also

References