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Summer fun adds up to losses
By Xu Wenwen |
August 10, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
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SUMMER camps for children offering a range of activities are increasingly popular all over China. A summer camp in Hangzhou aims to help children lose weight.
The camp, jokingly called "fatties summer camp" by local media, is located in a university campus in Xiasha, Hangzhou. Over 20 days, children take part in courses such as swimming, yoga, running, gym, basketball and even kung fu.
"We recruited 150 students this year, the fattest one weighed 130.7 kilograms and is now 119.2 kilograms," says Xu Jinping, one of the teachers. "We focus not only on sports but also on diet. We also encourage good habits to maintain health."
The summer camp also offers classes in nutrition for children and parents, and when it comes to talking about how to maintain a healthy diet, every child seems to know what to say.
"No sugary drinks, more roughage, little oil, suitable sports ..." a bunch of children recited.
"Children are usually not strong-minded, that's why the camp is enclosed," says teacher Xu Yun. "Parents are to blame as they spoil their kids too much. We therefore keep their weight down by adjusting their diet."
In one dormitory room, rather like a hotel room, two boys are playing video games. Air conditioners keep the temperature under 23 degrees Celsius while outside it's nearer 30 degrees.
In another room, where three boys have just returned from their basketball game, the air conditioners have been on all day. An elementary school boy immediately turned on his laptop and started to play the game while his friends looked on.
When asked how they felt about the camp their responses were mixed.
"It's harsh. I'll never come again. Fried egg without soy oil, melon soup with little salt and the nutrition stick makes me sick," says Pan Shu, a 12-year-old girl who had lost 7 kilograms.
"Every coin has two sides. You need to find a happy side to the pain," says David Cheng, a 13-year-old boy born in Hong Kong and studying in Hangzhou, who has lost 6.5 kilograms.
Shen Yu, a 10-year old girl who was at the camp last summer, and came again this year, says: "I lost 6.5 kilograms last year but I put it all back on again. My parents sent me here again and I have lost 5 kilograms this year."
"I'll try to keep my weight when I am at home because I don't want the money to have been spent in vain," says Zhang Wenhuan, a 13-year-old boy who lost 8.7 kilograms.
About 8 percent of children up to the age of six in China were overweight, and 21 percent of seven to 17-year-olds were heavier than they should be, officials said at the International Healthy Lifestyle Exhibition held by China Ministry of Health at the end of last year.
On the last day of the camp last week, parents came to pick up their children and some talked about why they felt the need to send their children there.
"My son was weak and ate little when he was a baby, so we bought many nourishments to promote his appetite, but now he's nearly 50 kilograms," says an eight-year-old boy's mother, Zhu Weiping.
"My daughter was born as a normal baby with normal weight, but she liked milk powder a lot. We didn't control it," says a mother who only identified herself as Yu. "She has lost 6.5 kilograms, equal to 10 percent of her weight, but I'm afraid it's not easy to keep losing. Maybe we'll come again next year."
One formula to determine whether a person is overweight is the body mass index which is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height.
The standard body mass range for a child under six is 15-18, for six to 11-year-olds it is 16 to 19, and for 12 to 17-year-olds it is 18-21. Only a figure above those ranges indicates that a child may be considered fat.
The camp, jokingly called "fatties summer camp" by local media, is located in a university campus in Xiasha, Hangzhou. Over 20 days, children take part in courses such as swimming, yoga, running, gym, basketball and even kung fu.
"We recruited 150 students this year, the fattest one weighed 130.7 kilograms and is now 119.2 kilograms," says Xu Jinping, one of the teachers. "We focus not only on sports but also on diet. We also encourage good habits to maintain health."
The summer camp also offers classes in nutrition for children and parents, and when it comes to talking about how to maintain a healthy diet, every child seems to know what to say.
"No sugary drinks, more roughage, little oil, suitable sports ..." a bunch of children recited.
"Children are usually not strong-minded, that's why the camp is enclosed," says teacher Xu Yun. "Parents are to blame as they spoil their kids too much. We therefore keep their weight down by adjusting their diet."
In one dormitory room, rather like a hotel room, two boys are playing video games. Air conditioners keep the temperature under 23 degrees Celsius while outside it's nearer 30 degrees.
In another room, where three boys have just returned from their basketball game, the air conditioners have been on all day. An elementary school boy immediately turned on his laptop and started to play the game while his friends looked on.
When asked how they felt about the camp their responses were mixed.
"It's harsh. I'll never come again. Fried egg without soy oil, melon soup with little salt and the nutrition stick makes me sick," says Pan Shu, a 12-year-old girl who had lost 7 kilograms.
"Every coin has two sides. You need to find a happy side to the pain," says David Cheng, a 13-year-old boy born in Hong Kong and studying in Hangzhou, who has lost 6.5 kilograms.
Shen Yu, a 10-year old girl who was at the camp last summer, and came again this year, says: "I lost 6.5 kilograms last year but I put it all back on again. My parents sent me here again and I have lost 5 kilograms this year."
"I'll try to keep my weight when I am at home because I don't want the money to have been spent in vain," says Zhang Wenhuan, a 13-year-old boy who lost 8.7 kilograms.
About 8 percent of children up to the age of six in China were overweight, and 21 percent of seven to 17-year-olds were heavier than they should be, officials said at the International Healthy Lifestyle Exhibition held by China Ministry of Health at the end of last year.
On the last day of the camp last week, parents came to pick up their children and some talked about why they felt the need to send their children there.
"My son was weak and ate little when he was a baby, so we bought many nourishments to promote his appetite, but now he's nearly 50 kilograms," says an eight-year-old boy's mother, Zhu Weiping.
"My daughter was born as a normal baby with normal weight, but she liked milk powder a lot. We didn't control it," says a mother who only identified herself as Yu. "She has lost 6.5 kilograms, equal to 10 percent of her weight, but I'm afraid it's not easy to keep losing. Maybe we'll come again next year."
One formula to determine whether a person is overweight is the body mass index which is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height.
The standard body mass range for a child under six is 15-18, for six to 11-year-olds it is 16 to 19, and for 12 to 17-year-olds it is 18-21. Only a figure above those ranges indicates that a child may be considered fat.
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