HEALTHY LIVING ACADEMIES
Brevard, NC

Weight Loss Boarding School for Kids to Open Second Campus

Contact:
Ryan Craig
866-364-0808

August 14, 2006

Aspen Education Group’s Healthy Living Academies division today announced it will be opening a second campus of Academy of the Sierras, the world’s premier boarding school for obese and overweight children. Academy of the Sierras North Carolina (AOS NC) will be located on a 220-acre campus in Brevard, NC and will enroll boys and girls ages 11-16, focusing on students from the Southeast.

“We are extremely excited about the opening of our new campus,” said Phil Obbard, Executive Director of the original Academy of the Sierras campus, located in Reedley, CA.

“With the increasing epidemic of childhood obesity in this nation, and with the worldwide reputation for success that AOS has earned by achieving the best outcomes ever recorded in weight loss research, demand for a new campus has been strong. The establishment of AOS NC will meet the needs of thousands of parents with young children who have been reluctant to send an overweight or obese child across the country for an entire semester.”

Like Academy of the Sierras in California, AOS NC will utilize cognitive-behavioral therapy in conjunction with a program of exercise and diet management to achieve the kinds of behavioral changes necessary for life-long weight control. In addition, AOS NC will provide a full academic program, allowing students to complete the same coursework they would have completed in their home schools.

Ryan Madamba, Executive Director of Healthy Living Academies’ Wellspring Adventure Camps, including Wellspring Adventure Camp in Canton, NC, has been appointed Executive Director of AOS NC.

“AOS NC is a program that families in the Southeast desperately need,” said Madamba. “We are proud and excited that young people in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and neighboring states now will have access to this world-class program.”

Today, 27% of youth in South Carolina and 30% in North Carolina are either overweight or obese, according to Louis Yuhasz, President of Charleston, SC-based Louie’s Kids, the leading foundation supporting treatment of pediatric obesity.

“Our organization welcomes this program, not only because it is scientifically-based, but also due to a demonstrated track record of short- and long-term success for students,” says Yuhasz.

Unlike traditional “diet camps,” Academy of the Sierras was designed by leading researchers using current scientific understanding of the most effective approaches to safe weight loss and permanent behavioral and lifestyle change. By providing behavioral training such as self-monitoring and goal-setting for successful long-term weight control and by employing master’s- and doctoral-level therapists to provide cognitive-behavioral therapy, the AOS weight loss methodology ensures students stay committed to permanent lifestyle change.

Academy of the Sierras also focuses on family involvement and has a unique Internet-based “after-care” program. The outcomes are unprecedented in the history of weight loss research: participating students to date have achieved an average weight loss of 81 lbs., and alumni are maintaining their weight loss at home.

Healthy Living Academies operates residential schools and summer programs addressing America’s crisis of pediatric and adolescent obesity. Healthy Living Academies programs include Academy of the Sierras, Wellspring NY, Wellspring Adventure Camp, Wellspring Adventure Camp California, Wellspring Family Camp, and Wellspring UK. To learn more about Academy of the Sierras, Wellspring Camps or Healthy Living Academies, visit www.healthylivingacademies.com or call 866-364-0808.

Healthy Living Academies is a division of Aspen Education Group, the nation’s leading provider of education programs for struggling or underachieving young people. With over 30 programs in 12 states and the United Kingdom, Aspen provides to students and families a comprehensive range of therapeutic interventions, including boarding schools, residential treatment and wilderness therapy. For more information, visit www.aspeneducation.com or call 888-972-7736.