Doctor’s advice: First check content of camp, only then send your child

“It is a good idea only if children are taught to form healthy habits and do other positive activities,” says Prof J S Thakur, School of Public Health, PGI.

[related-post]

Thakur maintains several studies have found that children in the city are obese because they don’t do exercise and are confined to their homes. “Camps should promote improving health system. These days there are very less physical activities among children,” says Thakur. “The consumption of junk food is also huge among children. Camps can really play a role in bringing down this consumption.”

He advises the parents to assess the content of the camps and then take a call. “It is now commercialised. First parents should look whether the camp is going to help their children and then only take a call,” says Thakur. Dr Thakur says that a study

conducted by PGI a few years ago found that 6-8 per cent children in the schools are obese. “The number was more in private schools as compared to the government schools,” he adds.

Other doctors believe that camps help to reduce the mental stress among children. “It is a useful thing and we can bring out hidden talent among children through these camps. During the summers, children remain at home and do nothing. It is better to send them to these camps so that they can spend time without any stress,” says Professor Adarsh Kohli, Department of Psychiatry, PGI. “In the camps, there is no stress among the children and there is no competition as well.”

She, however, says that now-a-days summer camps have become a money-minting machine for some people. “Some of them are good, but there are few others as well, who are doing it with an aim to earn more money.”