16 Nightmarish — But Real — Stories From People's Experiences At Child Fat Camps

Disclaimer: The following post contains discussions of crash dieting, suicide, and eating disorders.

We recently interviewed Hannah, a 28-year-old woman who detailed her experience of going to a fat camp in North Carolina at age 15.

The stories she told us were extremely unsettling. Some of the most shocking parts of her summer at "Wellspring Adventure Camp" were as follows: She was limited to less than 1,200 calories and 20 grams of fat a day. She had to track every single thing she consumed in a journal. Counselors limited the campers' portions at meal times. They were forced to be active from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. And every single week, they had competitive weigh-ins to see how much weight they lost, which campers would take as an opportunity to gloat about their "progress." Hannah said she would take pride in eating less than the prescribed amount of calories, and she ended up losing 40 pounds in 10 weeks.

A 2006 study concluded that "dieting and unhealthful weight-control behaviors predict outcomes related to obesity and eating disorders 5 years later." And in a recent interview about Kim Kardashian's drastic 3-week 16-pound weight loss for the Met Gala, Elaina Efird, Registered Dietician, CEDRD, CSSD, told BuzzFeed, "Losing 16 pounds in 21 days is technically possible, but only through extreme and VERY unhealthy measures such as starvation or semi-starvation. It is not sustainable at all and should NEVER be the goal or attempted by an individual."

Simply put, crash dieting is EXTREMELY unhealthy — both mentally and physically. And the fact that literal children have been put in these high-pressure weight loss environments is not OK. Many people in the comments of our article, and on various Reddit threads, opened up about their own experiences at fat camp — both campers AND counselors. Here are 16 more horrifying stories:

1."I, too, went to fat camp. To be honest, I had a lot of fun with the activities, like rock climbing and hiking in the mountains. But that was overshadowed by the health conditions I developed while at fat camp. I was 14 and passed my first kidney stones there! I was eating about 500–600 calories a day because I am a picky eater, so I only ate the fruit, yogurt, and Fig Newtons. I think I lost around 40 pounds in 8 weeks, but also developed gallstones and had to have emergency surgery once I got home. It’s probably not surprising that I went on to develop anorexia, and then a binge-eating disorder."

2."I went to the same camp as Hannah in 2011, and boy do I have some stories 🤠. We called it 'Hellspring' instead of Wellspring. They would also yell at us if they heard us say fat camp. I made some good friends and loved the backpacking trips though."

3."I went to a camp run by the same people as Wellspring, but in Hawaii. Here are a few of my memories: It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision to go, but I agreed, hoping it would finally fix me. Plus, Hawaii. The first thing they did when I got there: Inspected my bag and took away my phone, the emergency money my parents gave me, and the CD players and mix CDs my sister spent all day making for me (apparently music was a distraction? And that was bad?). We had to hit certain goals every day and every week. If we did not hit those goals, they took away our 10-minute phone call home for the week. I was struggling really badly — it was my first time away from home. I felt isolated and alone on an island in the middle of the ocean, and they took away my one lifeline: my phone. Also, the last Harry Potter book came out that summer, and all the counselors got copies, but we weren't allowed to. They threatened us with spoilers to motivate us."

4."Kids were generally respectful of what their parents paid to have them lose weight. There were candy machines and stuff on campus, and we all had spending money, but no one bothered because of the trust that was given to us. One girl apparently smuggled in a jar of peanut butter to eat. There were people who did stuff like this, but in general most kids did as they were told. Once my dorm mates and I walked miles to a Walgreens to get frozen yogurt and the new flavor of Orbit, but that was sanctioned by our counselor. We mostly went for the new flavor of Orbit. Orbit was the shiznit. Lots of campers chewed gum."

5."I asked my parents to let me attend fat camp in 2000, when I was 10 years old. I was a chubby kid, but not drastically overweight, and my parents were more than happy to indulge my request. I went to an overnight camp in Pennsylvania. Within days, I was absolutely miserable. They would keep us outside in the 90-degree heat from breakfast until after dinner, exercising almost all day (I think we were permitted 30 minutes a day of an activity that was not physical, i.e., arts and crafts). I don't think any of the buildings were air-conditioned, except for the admin building. The only snacks permitted were fruits, and we mostly ate plain chicken and vegetables. I often felt like I was on the verge of passing out..."

6."I spent three days at Camp Shane before I convinced my mom to bring me home, or I was going to literally hurt myself there. Also, the toilets in our block of cabins were broken."

7."I went to the same camp twice. My parents sent me against my will when I was 12, and again when I was 13, after I gained back all the weight I had lost the first time. I remember the entire experience being difficult. I was a young kid away from home for the first time with no access to the phone, TV, or media at all — apart from a 10-minute phone call home every Sunday. We were on a starvation diet — under 1,200 cals, under 20 grams of fat a day, and active from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. I remember there was a requirement that we hit 10,000 steps a day, although it usually ended up being closer to 20,000. You were not allowed to say no to activities. I got my first period while away, was in excruciating pain, and was not allowed to call home or talk to my mom. Instead, I was told exercise would make me feel better and sent off on the 'morning walk,' the 2-mile walk we did each morning before being allowed to eat..."

8."I worked at Camp Shane in 2010 as a 'nutritionist.' It was AWFUL, and I ended up leaving because I tried to make changes and wasn’t allowed. Campers were absolutely starving and over-exercising."

9."I went for six weeks. I was in a cabin with six other girls (slightly younger than me, my cabin assignment got mixed up). Sugar, gum, and soda were all contraband, so we'd trade Crystal Light packets like they were crack."

10."The camp I went to cost $4,000 USD for three weeks. My parents would have sent me longer, but it would have cost $9,000–$12,000 or something for the entire summer."

11."I ate about 1,200 calories a day. The food could be pretty weird sometimes, like eggplant, and there was never any Mexican food (I'm Mexican). That meant that a lot of it was really foreign to some of us, and a few kids fainted because they would not/could not eat some things. It was written by a dietician, so it was within nutritional guidelines. I do remember especially hating eggplant day, and I was always scared to eat the buffalo."

12."I was shipped off to fat camp when I was in sixth grade. My mom had disordered eating, and when I was 10 pounds overweight, would tell me I was obese. I lost the weight and gained it back once I got home due to having no one to model healthy eating habits, and I was eating as a way to cope with home life and boredom. As an adult, I eat very healthily and try to model a good example for my kids."

13."I was a counselor at the fat camp featured on MTV's Fat Camp. The kids did lose weight over the course of the summer, but mostly through really strict portion control of shitty food. They took nutrition courses and some of them had behavioral therapy, but the fact that these kids kept returning with the weight gained back — and plus some — signals to me that it didn't have any long-term impact...I'd say a very small portion of them were 'obese.' They had poor self-images and/or their parents just didn't want a 'fat kid.' There was a kid in my cabin who actually was so thin. She had to get extra servings of food so she wouldn't keep losing weight."

Here's the first half of the two-hour MTV documentary from 2006:

14."I went to fat camp for years and even fat school. I lost weight while I was there, but got so much worse when I left. I don't recommend these programs. Getting a doctor and therapist who had experience with eating disorders helped so much more."

15."I had talked of, for years, going to a science camp where you make robots that kill each other. Somehow my mom thought I meant fat camp. They already paid the enormous fee, so I had to go. It was an excuse for my parents to settle their separation, get back together, and plot a cross-country move behind my back. Hearing, 'We're moving!' on the phone definitely upset me."

16.And finally, "I worked at a weight loss camp for a year, and I have never felt worse about myself. The facility I worked at was really awful, and yes, it was absolutely abusive. The counselors were mostly returned campers, and they were terrible role models and appalling influences. They sold laxatives to the campers, and were totally role modeling bulimia and other really harmful behaviors."

Did you go to fat camp? If so, what was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below for a chance to be featured in a BuzzFeed Community post.

If you're dealing with an eating disorder and need someone to talk to, the National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237. For 24/7 crisis support, text "NEDA" to 741741.

Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.