Fighting Fat Is Fun At Summer Camp

Camp Endeavor Cuts The Calories And Keeps Overweight Kids Hopping As They Enjoy Classic Summer Camp Activities And Also Learn About Nutrition And Changing Their Behavior.

Wisconsin State Journal :: FRONT :: A1

Wednesday, July 25, 2007
By GAYLE WORLAND * gworland@madison.com * 608-252-6188

Rich Sevenbergen, 14, is upfront when he explains how he found his summer getaway. He did a Google search for "fat camp."

"I used to cringe at that term," says Tut Gramling, who with her husband, Dan Dingmann, runs Camp Endeavor, near Wisconsin Dells, which is billed as the Midwest's only weight-management camp for youth.

"I would never call it a 'fat camp,' " she says. "But we realized that on the Internet that has to be one of our key words or we're missing out on all those kids" who think of it that way.

In an era of specialty camps - in Wisconsin alone this season, kids could sign up for anything from paper-making camp to fire-science camp - Camp Endeavor remains pretty much the classic summertime experience away from home: two to four weeks of nature hikes, lake swimming, games, crafts, new friends, wet towels, bare feet, messy bunkbeds and daily mail call.

But only 1,800 calories a day.

No junk food.

Daily sessions on nutrition and behavior modification.

And nonstop activity all day long.

"We're moving from 8 a.m. until like 9 at night," says camp counselor Katie Nelson, 21, a Beaver Dam college student majoring in special education. She and seven other counselors oversee the kids in their cabins and join them for action that can range from a pool party to rock climbing, a ballroom dance lesson to a raucous water-balloon fight.

"We really stress with kids that we're a weight-management camp, not a weight-loss camp," says co-director Gramling. "What we hope is to teach them lifestyle changes and get them hooked on feeling good."

The 36 kids who attended Camp Endeavor during this season, which ended July 14, lost a total of 564 pounds.

At the start of camp, about three-quarters of the kids, ages 9 to 17, were medically classified as overweight. About 25 percent fell into the category of obese. Pediatricians sometimes refer kids to the camp, and parents can use their employer-sponsored flex plan health-care dollars to cover part of the cost: $1,800 for a two-week stay or $3,400 for four weeks.

\ Having fun fighting fat

Lean and active themselves, Gramling and Dingmann, of Baraboo, hatched the idea for Camp Endeavor after their own daughter, Emily, returned from a stint working at a summer camp. Gramling, an occupational therapist with a master's in education, and Dingmann, who has a bachelor's degree in physical education and a master's in exercise physiology, started thinking how they might make fighting fat fun.

Dingmann's day job is in cardiac rehabilitation, so he was familiar with the toll that excess weight can take on the heart. Gramling, during her 15 years working in the Baraboo public schools, had witnessed many overweight children who stood on the sidelines during recess - contributing to a cycle of inactivity and, frequently, low self-esteem.

"Kids who aren't coordinated, kids who are overweight, don't participate to the extent that other kids do," she says. "So their skills are underdeveloped, and never get the chance to catch up."

To remedy that, sports at Camp Endeavor are modified to suit young bodies unfamiliar with taking physical challenges. Badminton replaces tennis. Volleyball is played with a larger ball, so slow runners have a better chance of getting to it. In the afternoon, the campers head to an air-conditioned gym to work out, avoiding the hot muggy air of a Midwest summer.

"We want these kids to feel good about themselves," says Gramling. "We also know that bodies can change, and fat is temporary. We try to support them and put those beliefs in place that will enable them to change their weight."

The 4-year-old Camp Endeavor rents cabins and has access to the sports facilities within Camp Chi, a 600-acre wooded property run by the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago. The walking distances from, say, the dining hall to the lakefront can be hefty - another way to incorporate movement into a camper's day.

\ Staying power

Nicole Sulzer, 13, of Monroe, initially signed up for two weeks at Camp Endeavor, then asked to extend her stay for the optional four-week session. In her first week of camp, she'd already lost 5 1/2 pounds - and learned to fish.

"I like watching TV, and I usually eat then," she says. "I've learned I shouldn't do that."

It helps to be away from social forces that contribute to overeating, says Rich, the Googler from Coon Rapids, Minn. At camp, "You're away from advertisements and fast food," he says. (By week two, his most memorable experience was the night "a bat landed on my head.") This year Camp Endeavor abandoned packaged low-calorie and low-fat foods and now only serves whole-grain breads and pasta and other pure, unprocessed foods. Each morning, the kids have a session on anything from how the digestive system works to how to deal with bullies - including lessons on self-defense and assertiveness training. Bullying is an unfortunate fact of life for many of these kids back home, says Gramling.

"We talk about how bullying is all about the bully," she says. "It's not you. They're going to pick whoever happens to be there. But so many of these kids have suffered so much hurt."

It's different at Camp Endeavor, says Riley Moen, 14, of Fergus Falls, Minn. Now, "I talk more," he says. "I used to be more quiet. I can do more things here and have fun. I don't have to be self-conscious about my weight."

"Everybody's in the same situation here," agrees Lucas Shanley, 16, of North Branch, Minn. "So you can joke about it a lot."

A big fan of Camp Endeavor's ropes course and daily swims, Lucas wants to spread the word about camp. "It's kind of a touchy subject to bring up with some people," he says, "but I would recommend it to anybody."