Severe obesity in childhood is likely to persist throughout life and is known to be associated with increased risks of early death, atherosclerosis and its complications, and some cancers. In the most severe obesity, when outpatient management has proved ineffective and the burden on the child or adolescent becomes overwhelming, inpatient management may sometimes be indicated. One alternative to ‘hospital’ inpatient management is the residential summer camp.

The idea behind residential management is to help children restore the balance between energy expenditure and energy consumption themselves, helped by psychosocial and educational supports, with the aim of providing an ongoing, long-lasting, and progressive slimming process.

Historical background and implementation

The history of the development of residential care in the management of obesity is rather vague. After World War II, children and adolescents from European cities, especially France, used to leave their families and join summer camps for 1–2 months of ‘healthy holidays’. Medical centres which had developed outside cities when tuberculosis was a highly prevalent disease were reoriented towards treating severe, noncommunicable, chronic diseases because of medical and epidemiological changes. Support from National Insurance or private health-care systems enabled chronically ill children and adolescents to benefit from sustained inpatient care. Countries which provide no residential care or provide it only through summer camps may do so for reasons of economy or because of traditional reluctance to accept state intervention in citizen's private lives.