Monday night, Style Network premieres the new hour long docu-series, Too Fat For 15: Fighting Back. The show follows five obese kids as they attempt to begin living healthy lives at a weight loss boarding school, Wellspring Academy in North Carolina.
The Style Network’s new docu-series, “Too Fat for 15: Fighting Back,” follows the emotional stories of five obese young people attempting to shed hundreds of life-threatening pounds at the acclaimed weight-loss boarding school, Wellspring Academy, in North Carolina. In eight one-hour episodes, cameras go behind the scenes to track the students’ progress as they follow the school’s intense mind/body curriculum. Compelling, inspiring and often heart-wrenching, the series offers an unprecedented look at the real struggle behind the nation’s childhood obesity crisis and finds hope in the true stories of five kids determined to get to a healthy weight (and the unique school that is helping them).
My only gripe with the show and to me, it is a big one, is that none of the kids that are being followed are 15 years old! So basically the show has a really stupid title. At the time of filming, Terinna, Tanisha, and Miranda are 17, Scott is 13, and Emily is 11. Emily is the youngest student ever at Wellspring Academy. Tanisha at 510 pounds is the heaviest student in the school’s history.
The episode opens up just right…with the school director and coordinators/coaches talking about how the school works, as the cameras follow the kids on arrival day and each of the five students are introduced. On arrival day, the coordinators go through the students’ belongings and take away food and anything that has stopped them from being active – until they are able to responsibly use them. That is something that I was thrilled to see because it really brings to your attention, as a youthful viewer how much time in the day you spend not being physically active. So then, the students are introduced to their behavioral coaches, which is the Academy’s version of the school counselor.
What I really like about Wellspring Academy is that each student gets their own personal behavioral coach. This is a very helpful and convenient tool for the students and the coaches. I know in high school I was in my counselor’s office almost as much as I attended my classes. So, I am sure it is less stressful on the coach to have one student as opposed to hundreds. Introductions aside, the tests begin! The students are encouraged to walk 10,000 steps per day which is approximately 5 miles per day. These kids are doing more exercise than I have done in a week. So, it will encourage not only those who are obese but everyone who is not physically fit and healthy. So the students must write down what they eat each day along with the calories and amount of fat in the food.
Next, the students must run a mile, get their body measured, take a flexibility test, and attend the first of many group therapy sessions. As Scott points out, since he is surrounded by kids who are struggling with being obese like these, these tests are not embarrassing. What can be a much more intimidating test, daily test is what to eat in the cafeteria. Although the camp doesn’t make it easy to even get there, as students have to walk up a steep hill to get to the cafeteria. After eating, exercising, and learning, there comes a time where the infamous scale must be taken out for a check-up. Scott has probably the most positive mindset of all of the students. Emily, the youngest just breaks my heart because she is not only struggling with her weight but socially.
As for all of the kids, they are incredibly brave for letting the cameras follow their weight loss progress. And at the same time it is a smart move to have cameras following their progress because it is a great motivator to reach their goal. But it’s not just about losing the weight. There’s so much more to this program. I like to bundle it into fitness, food, family, and friends. When these students begin and continue a daily fitness routine, actually think about what food they are putting into their bodies, and have friends around them at camp for support…no matter what their specific weight loss goal is, they will have reached the goal of being healthier at the end of their stay. And not only would these teens have begun to live healthier lives, they might have just saved their lives.
Obesity is life threatening and to see these kids fighting for their lives…it’s quite emotional. It will get even more emotional when the parents visit the camp in a future episode. I am anticipating and also dreading when the parents visit, because I am afraid to see how many enablers there were, whether aware or unaware that they were enablers. It’s not only the relationship that these kids have with food and exercise but with the people that they live with and are inspired by (whether they want to be or not) each and every day. Originally, I did not think that I would become so emotionally invested into this show. But I am actually very interested in watching what happens in the next 7 episodes.
Too Fat For 15: Fighting Back airs Mondays at 8/7c on the Style Network.