Overweight and Obesity: An Investigation of Contributing Variables in a Specific "At-Risk" Pediatric Population
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Authors
Neph, Jennifer M.
Issue Date
1999
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Imagine stepping back in time 83 years; it is now 1916 and the youth of
Kalamazoo County are wandering around in a world completely foreign to them. To
clarify, these youth we are imagining are the underprivileged youth of the county, and we
are watching them not within the city limits of Kalamazoo, but on the shores of Pretty
Lake, 12.5 miles west of Kalamazoo in Texas Township. Pretty Lake Vacation Camp
(PLVC) was founded in 1916 by Mr. Edward Desenberg, and has since provided the
opportunity for nearly 40,000 Kalamazoo county youth to attend summer camp.
The mission of PLVC is to "create a fun environment in which children are
challenged to expand their abilities to the fullest and to be the best they can be." Over the
course of their stay, children learn how to interact with others and make new friends, in
turn building self-esteem and developing problem-solving skills. Presently, the not-for-profit
summer camp is a gift from the community to the "at-risk" children of the county
who cannot afford to buy a week at other camps.
Let's take a look back, again, to the first year of the camp. Do you notice how
slim the majority of these children are? This stature can actually be attributed to
malnutrition, explaining why PLVC has historically measured the success of each
summer season by the number of pounds of flesh gained by each child. As early as 1926,
a Kalamazoo Gazette headline heralds: "Young America Gains 2,046 Pounds at Pretty
Lake." During this 1926 season, the article reports that the "476 boys and girls at PLVC
gained an average of 4 3/10 pounds [each]" (Kalamazoo Gazette, 1926). Fast forward to
the year 1935, where the headline reads: "Weight is Among Benefits Gained at Pretty
Lake" (Kalamazoo Gazette, 7-28-1935). Well stated, the article reads "Among the many
things which a Pretty Laker takes away from camp, one of the most important items is
several pounds of weight." This summer season, the children gained an average of 2.35
pounds each. The importance of this nutritional "beef-up" is understood when one
realizes that inadequately balanced diets resulted in malnutrition; "about 1/4 of the
children never had milk to drink as part of their regular diet at home" (Kalamazoo
Gazette, 8-27-1939). When the camp began a program for African American children in
1945, "some of the children gained as much as nine pounds during the two weeks"
(Kalamazoo Gazette, 9-2-1945).
Fast forward to the year 1999; Pretty Lake Vacation Camp no longer measures
success in number of pounds gained per child, though providing nutritionally well-balanced
meals and snacks remains an integral facet of camp. On the verge of a new
millennium, it has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control that "one in five
children in the United States between the ages of 6 and 17 is overweight" (Mayo). Does
this mean the days of gross malnutrition and the need to "beef-up" under-privileged youth
are over? Does this trend for overweight and obesity seen in the Nation as a whole
pertain to the "at-risk" children of Kalamazoo County, to those same campers at PLVC
that in 1939 consumed "10,400 quarts of milk, 763 pounds of butter, 1,000 pounds of
sugar, 3, 100 loaves of bread, 400 pounds of roasted meat, 1000 quarts of orange juice,
and 12 cases of uncooked cereal" (Kalamazoo Gazette, 8-27-1939)?
Description
vi, 50 p.
Citation
Publisher
Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College.
License
U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.