Dr Oz: Obese Children Boarding School
Dr Oz did a show on Childhood Obesity, and said that one school thinks they might have the answer. Wellspring Academy is a boarding school for Obese Kids. In addition to their regular studies, the kids are taught to re-program their dangerous eating habits. They are taught nutrition, cooking skills and take physical education twice a day. So far, over 800 kids have graduated from Wellspring Academy and they have lost a total of 50,000 pounds. Doctor Oz said that on the tv show Too Fat For Fifteen, they featured two of the kids at Wellspring Academy.
Dr Oz: Wellspring Academy
Doctor Oz brought two girls from Wellspring Academy onto his show: Carsyn Nash and Tanisha Mitchell. Carsyn, an 18 year old girl, said that she 
remembers her mom commenting on her weight since the third grade, but the only thing that comforted her was food. Tanisha weighed 510 pounds when she went to Wellspring, and today she weighs 235 pounds. Carsyn has only been at Wellspring Academy for one year, but she originally weighed 203 pounds and lost 50 pounds. Tanisha said that she thinks that parents are partially responsible, but for her it was also due to being bed ridden from having a bone disease. The combination of being immobile and eating unhealthy foods is what made her gain so much weight.
Dr Oz asked Carsyn’s mother Jodi if she felt embarrassment from her obese daughter. Jodi said that she does not recall being embarrassed because she was so concerned about the long-tern health consequences since Carsyn was already Pre-Diabetic and had high cholesterol levels. Carsyn actually come from a fit and healthy family, so she said it was great to be out of her home environment and to be surrounded by people just like herself.
Tanisha told Dr Oz that if she had not left home, it would have been a disaster. Though she did not want to go initially. Eventually she understood that she really needed to be at Wellspring Academy. She could hardly walk 10 steps without being exhausted, so it was a big wakeup call that she desperately needed. Tanisha said that there are lots of kids who want to be saved, but that it is also about wanting to save yourself.
Eliza Kingsford, the director of Wellspring Academy, told Dr Oz that the term “Child Abuse” has a certain negative intention behind it. We cannot just blame childhood obesity on the parents. Of course they do hold a big part of the problem since they can encourage exercise and provide healthy foods only, but the kids need to want to be healthy for themselves as well.
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