Last summer, I took my seven-year-old son to a sports camp, one he’s been happily attending since he was four. This time was different though. I also took along one of his friends. It was tough. Not for him, but for his mum, my friend, who wasn’t keen to let her son go. Her reluctance was not about the money (she’s loaded), or her son being away from her (she works full-time) – she simply could not understand the benefits a sports camp could offer. She insisted he would be better off at home studying.
Her son may well have been hitting academic highs, but fuelled by a steady stream of fast food and computer games, his idea of play, he was sinking to new lows in the health stakes. He is seven years old and he is obese.
His story, sadly, is a familiar one. Fact: the UAE is facing a major obesity crisis. Now the fifth-heaviest country in the world, according to UK-based Journal BMC Public Health (June 2012) adults in the UAE are consuming more than 3,000 calories a day – that’s 500 more than the world average. If the country’s supposed role models are doing this, imagine what their offspring are doing.
What they are clearly not doing however is activity, if the startling statistics are anything to go by. A country-wide survey of both Emirati and expat school kids by the Ministry of Health in 2011 revealed that more than half (54.7 per cent) of children in the UAE are obese or overweight. This is one of the highest rates in the world, with kids aged 8-13 in the most at-risk category. So what exactly is going wrong?
“It’s simple really. There are more calories being consumed than being burnt and kids learn this from their parents,” says Raz Khan of Dubai-based sports camp company Excel Sports. “The lazy lifestyle and unhealthy eating becomes part of their adopted culture and is soon intrinsic to their lifestyle.”
The problem is that we live in an environment that encourages obesity, with inactivity the root cause. Kids are simply doing less and less, with technology (from cars to computers) and convenience (food deliveries and valet parking) promoting sedentary lifestyles.
In her Columbia University study on childhood obesity in the UAE in 2011, Kelly Scott cited “too much TV/Internet, and therefore, inactivity,” as the main culprit
of regional childhood obesity.
Michael Haddin, owner of Haddins Fitness in Abu Dhabi, says lack of incidental exercise and outdoor play (from riding bikes to school to playing in the park every evening) is to blame, while Ahmad Zahdan of educational sporting academy MPAC Sports, which has a history of involvement in physical-education curriculum development, believes that kids are simply not being introduced to sports at a young enough age and parents are not prioritising fitness.
Haddin says, “Establishing the habit of physical activity early in a child’s development is critical to their long-term health.” The consequence for our offspring if we don’t, is a long list of life-threatening ailments: high cholesterol and blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney failure and asthma. Not to mention the emotional burden of being fat – social discrimination, low self-esteem and hindrance in both academic and social functioning.
Whose responsibility is it?
Thankfully, this dire prediction is just one possible outcome. The other, involving action, is much more positive. And local government has begun taking action.
After finding in a survey* that some 47 per cent of Dubai schools (public and private) substitute PE with other lessons, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has put in place the Physical Activity at School Policy 2013-2015 to ensure primary students get 150 minutes exercise per week and high school students, 225 minutes. Steps in the right direction certainly, but are they enough?
One man thinks not. Basel Shouly, president of C-Pi Educational Systems & School Management Services, runs a weight loss camp and believes he is filling “a terrible educational vacuum that’s been overlooked by schools”. While Basel concedes that governments across the region have responded to the obesity epidemic, he believes they have done so on medical grounds. “We believe the response to the obesity epidemic should have been educational – through schools, family and community development programmes,” he explains. “But because obesity among children is considered a health risk, it has been left to health ministries to tackle. It’s like going to the dentist for heart surgery.”
Ultimately, though, it comes down to parents to take action. “Fitness is not only a physical activity, it is a responsibility,” says Solange Dryro of Dubai-based facilitation company, Level Up Skills. “By improving your child’s activity levels, you are helping them become aware of their responsibility to their own body.”
He’s right. Governments can run every health campaign under the UAE sun and companies can open the flashiest fitness facilities, but unless parents are role-modelling healthy habits and providing their children with opportunities for an active lifestyle, there’s likely to be little dent in the fat stats.
And making the excuse that with summer upon us, it’s simply too hot to exercise, is no longer valid, as we don’t need to head outside to get our kicks. As Anouar Idrissi, managing director of Football Center, Dubai, says, “The idea that to keep fit and healthy you have to get out on the street and run five kilometres is wrong. There are a huge number of indoor sports activities available across the UAE. You have to make a commitment to exercise. If you want to make sure your children are healthy there really is nothing to stop them exercising.”
Rise of the summer camp
Big in the US, where their outdoor residential camps are almost a rite of passage for most tweens and teens, summer camps have hit the UAE with a vengeance. They offer a rich exercise-packed, health-focused experience that children here need because, according to the 2011 MOH survey, only one in six children in the UAE is getting the 60 minutes of exercise a day the World Health Organisation recommends.
Too many calories and not enough exercise is a recipe for fat, which is why C-Pi Weight Loss Camp is borrowing another, more hard-core solution from the US. Set up four years ago, the C-Pi Camp, aimed at obese children aged 11-17, is the Middle East’s only residential fitness and fat-busting bootcamp. As well as providing tailored diet/fitness plans to help kids shift the weight, it also educates boarders about lifelong weight control and healthy habits with a dedicated course in health science. In typical Dubai style, it also offers fabulous facilities – resort-like swimming pools, a ballet/yoga suite, an Olympic-size running track and a luxury spa.
Of course, we all know that prevention is better than cure, so weight loss camps should be seen as a last resort. A more proactive path for participation is one of the UAE’s many health- or fitness-focused camps.
On the food front first, there are a few camps teaching healthy lifestyle lessons. The School of Culinary and Finishing Arts at JLT is KHDA-approved and has community education as a key part of its mission. Its Mini Master Chef summer camp teaches kids aged four to seven about the benefits of a healthy diet.
Dubai’s Monarch Learning & Development Centre has also jumped on the obesity-busting bandwagon, with a summer camp combining team-building games with healthcare education. It teaches kids why exercise is important, and shows them how to be mindful about what they eat. It practises what it preaches too, dishing up healthy meals as part of the Dh700 week-long package.
While culinary camps with a healthy message are still in the minority, there are scores of sports-dedicated camps. Many focus on a solo activity, with football, tennis, basketball and swimming camps the most common. And while some of these target kids with sport-specific skills, helping them hone their techniques and tactics (Act Sports Tennis Academy, MPAC Basketball Academy, IFA Sports Football Academy) many act as an introduction to the sport for kids with little experience or expertise.
Football Center’s Anouar says his aim with his football summer camp is to introduce kids to fitness via fun. This way, they’re more likely to enjoy it and so continue once summer is over. Zoe Da Silva operations manager of Urban Energy Fitness, agrees: “A sports summer camp is ideal as sport is introduced in a friendly, non-competitive environment, where the impetus is on participation, not competition.”
Kids can so easily get ‘left behind’ in school sports activities, perhaps due to a bad experience or feeling that they’re not athletic material. “It’s important to acknowledge that not all kids will be great at sport and some may not enjoy it. The key is to find activities the child enjoys doing and feels they’re doing well, so their self-esteem is boosted,” says Zoe. Reintroducing them to physical exercise in a fun environment with fresh faces can save them from a life of lethargy.
Take Tom, for instance, a non-sporty child – “I couldn’t catch a ball and would get laughed at,” he admits. Tom suffered traumatic school sports day experiences and turned his back on fitness. But through a summer camp, he was introduced to a taster session of martial arts. He found that not only was he quite good at it, but he loved it. He’s now a blue belt in tae kwon do and works out five times a week.
For kids like Tom put off by sport in school, less-traditional sports camps could be just the ticket to fire up their fitness. And there are camps to appeal to all active appetites. There’s a gymnastics camp courtesy of Sporty Camps GymnastEx; horse riding at Hoofbeatz’s Equine Camp; and a focus on exciting Brazilian martial art at Level Up Skills’ Capoeira Camp. There’s also Ski Dubai’s five-day skiing camp for kids aged seven to 13 (daily 90-minute sessions on the slopes, from Dh770) and Gulf Star’s five-day Padi Camp (Dh2,200 for kids 12 to 17, 9am-5pm) where teens can gain a level-one scuba diving qualification.
Knock-on benefits
But qualifications and specific skills aside, the gains from a summer camp can be greater still. Yes, your kids will burn energy, get fit, learn physical skills, and no doubt have fun, but they will also learn life skills and values. “There have been many studies in recent years that have looked at the correlation between being active and academic performance and the results are clear,” says Anouar. “Being active does improve academic performance. The social aspect is also important for children – sports can have a huge benefit with teamwork, communication and confidence. That confidence will help children in other areas of their lives. Parents will often comment that their child has become much more sociable since he or she began football coaching classes.”
A study of summer camps undertaken in the US in 2005 backs this up. American academic Dr Stephen Fine found that a camp offers a solution to many of the gaps in the current education system. “It teaches values such as self-esteem, teamwork and caring, areas where everyone, not just the A-grade student and the athlete, can thrive and enjoy.”
For kids, and parents, not sure what sport they’ll enjoy, a multi-sports camp is the best bet as it offers a changing diet of sports, challenges and games, giving kids the opportunity to explore their own strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes and try new things.
“Our programmes are not based around single sports,” says Russ Wilson Junior of Junior Life Fitness, which runs a multi-skills summer camp in Dubai. “Instead, we focus on skills and games, which develop teamwork, leadership, confidence, coordination, speed and agility, so kids can take these improved qualities into whichever sport they choose to pursue.”
If your child is trying some five different activities a day (the average most UAE summer camps offer) they’re bound to find something they enjoy and it may spark interest in a sport for life, not just for summer. In fact, research* suggests that the more physical activity spaces and activities available within a camp for kids to try, the more active and interested they’ll be and, ultimately, the more likely they are to continue with one. These multi-sports camps can, therefore, provide kids with the kind of ‘takeaway’ that health professionals approve of – a lasting passion for exercise. According to research conducted by the American Camping Association, 65 per cent of children who learn new activities at camp continue engaging in these activities when they return home.
MPAC Sports Summer Camp offers traditional, mainly American sports, but throws in b-boy dance classes, wrestling and cardio classes and a class on how, what and when to eat and the benefits of staying active. At Haddins Summer Camp in Abu Dhabi, kids can try everything from bowling to boxing, while Ace Sports Academy Summer Camp in Dubai combines circuit training with karate and zumba.
Not exciting enough for your precious pint-sized people? Pack them off to the five-day Aqua Camp at Atlantis. It might be pricey (Dh2,500) but it’s chock-full of exciting water-based activities for eight to 12-year-olds, from scuba diving with sharks to paddle-boarding around the Palm. Equally exciting and also pretty pricey (Dh995 per week, 9am-1pm) is the Karting Camp at Dubai Autodrome for kids aged seven to 15. Karting tuition is interspersed with playing laser tag games, shooting billiards and racing a giant Scalextric. OK, so these might not be the most calorie-busting camps you can choose, but kids will still be on the go all day, and having fun. And part of the action-packed appeal of these multi-skill camps during the long hot summer is not just about what they offer, but what they don’t – there’s no Wi-F, no TV and no sodas.
For some parents, like my friend, it’s the ‘fun’ factor of these camps that can be off-putting, as they think it’s simply a waste of time. But there’s no arguing that summer camps tackle the ‘learning loss’ that many parents worry about during the long holidays. Aside from learning new skills, physical activity leads to improved mental focus, in turn leading to better academic performance.
Researchers at VU University Medical Center Holland* analysed 14 studies from the US, Canada and South Africa, covering more than 12,000 students. The researchers said they found “strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance”.
In another report**, researchers at Saginaw Valley State University in the US found that students who exercised vigorously seven days a week had GPAs that were, on average, 0.4 points higher than those who didn’t exercise.
Confronted with the fact that working up a sweat could boost her son’s body and brain, my friend couldn’t argue against the benefits. After all, what parent wouldn’t want that for their child?
