Kirk Lyttle / ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

As we bumped down the Vermont road toward Camp Wachusett, my eyes welled up as we came closer to dropping off my 9-year-old son at his first sleep-away camp. I kept my sunglasses on as my husband and I unpacked stacks of T-shirts and new socks, all with name labels. We made up the thin cot mattress with sheets and took a photo of our only child sitting there. We pointed out the pre-addressed stationery he would —we hoped — drop in the mail regaling us with happy tales of hikes and campfires.

That was 1999. He made it through the two-week session, and so did we, despite no cell-phone calls, e-mails or text messages. Although some aspects of woodsy life never change (archery and musty bunks), a survival guide for Summer Camp 2008 must include a primer about communications with your little cabin- or tent-dweller. You won’t see a cell phone, laptop or iPhone on most camp packing lists.

More than 6 million U.S. kids will head to 6,000 sleep-away camps this summer, according to the National Camp Association, and many of the 5- to 18-year-olds are leaving around now. Despite the sour economy, enrollments haven’t dropped, association executives say, because parents are loath to cut this tradition from their kids’ lives. (And it provides 24/7 summer vacation child care.)

However, at prices from $400 to $1,500 a week, there is a trend to shorter stays, according to Jeff Solomon, NCA’s executive director. Escalating gas prices are forcing some families to scout camps closer to home; others are requesting payment plans. To stay competitive, camps have added fencing, marine biology and “American Idol”-style singing; others have Olympic swimmers or soccer coaches.

At the same time, most camps are striving to keep the wilderness experience that is part of their history.

“The very same kids who come to camp looking for new activities want to make sure that the same traditions, such as songs and campfires, are preserved,” says Peg Smith, chief executive of the American Camp Association.

Smith says camp directors spend a lot of time on the care and feeding of parents, many of whom have been an integral part of almost everything in their kids’ lives.

“Today’s camps deal more with parents missing their kids than vice versa,” she says. Some camps offer secure Web sites where photos of campers are posted every day for parents to see proof that their kid is having a blast water-skiing.

Denise Viau, camping services manager for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, which operates camps in Virginia and Maryland, encourages parents to talk with their child about the experience beforehand. There is a plan for moms and dads who want a little bit more feedback.

“If parents are concerned, they can call us to check on their campers. We will observe them in the woods and come back and give them a comprehensive report,” Viau says. “We tell parents it’s usually a big mistake to talk to their daughters. The moment she hears your voice, she will burst into tears.”

Kingsley Pines, a coed camp in Maine, sends new families a DVD/CD set called “The Secret Ingredients of Summer Camp Success” by child psychologist Christopher Thurber. The DVD is for the family to watch before camp; the CD is for parents to listen to on their way home after they drop kids off.

Leslie Hartz of Columbia, Md., is sending her son and daughter to Kingsley Pines for the first time. “We have told the kids that the first day or two you will feel awkward, but you will be so busy that you will forget us,” says Hartz, who has already watched the DVD.

The number of camps that offer campers e-mail has grown from 20 percent three years ago to more than 80 percent today, Solomon says. Instead of a letter at mail call, a camper might get an e-mail printout. A few camps are letting campers respond using a monitored computer.

“I’m sticking with the U.S. mail,” says Jim Weiss, owner of Camp Wachusett, a 105-year-old boys’ camp on a lake in rural Vermont. “At camp, kids need to learn to be independent, make decisions on their own and learn to live with those decisions. Not everything is going to be perfect, but this will help them be more mature in handling the ups and downs of normal everyday living.”

Duncan Barger, an owner and director of Camp Shohola for boys in the Pennsylvania Poconos, has one major piece of advice for parents about homesickness: “Do not promise before camp that if your child doesn’t like it, they can come home.” It’s important, he said, that children be given time to get used to the surroundings.

My son, 18, is now a counselor at Camp Wachusett. He recently penned an essay about camp for his college applications, titled “Nico Dodd Unplugged.”

He wrote, “The absence of rapid communication is an attraction that keeps me coming back. Having real relationships with others requires more than opposable thumbs. Doing a job, competing in a friendly sports game or hiking up a mountain with someone lets people actually know each other.”

I am desperate for a CD that will make us feel better in August after we drop him off at college.

School is out, and nutrition takes a hike1

As my 9-year-old daughter began summer day camp last week, we talked about swimming rules, sunscreen and ... cheese fries.

It was at summer camp a few years ago that she first experienced the culinary joy of cheese fries, which can pack 800 or more calories in a serving. Her camp is typical of those around the country: days packed with archery, swimming and adventure climbing; menus packed with soft drinks, burgers, chicken nuggets and, once a week, cheese fries.

Camp food is just one of the summertime nutrition challenges for parents these days. While childhood health advocates often blame schools for poor nutrition and a lack of physical activity, the problem often gets worse in the summer. Last year, The American Journal of Public Health published a provocative study showing that schools may be taking too much of the blame for the childhood obesity epidemic.

Data from kindergarteners and first graders found that body mass index increased two to three times as fast in summer as during the regular school year. Minority children were especially vulnerable, as were children already overweight.

Notably, even children who were too thin and needed to gain weight appeared to have better eating habits during the school year. They actually gained more weight while in school and less in the summer.

The data are far from conclusive; they are from 1998-99, the only time federal education officials gathered seasonal data on schoolchildren, said a co-author of the study, Douglas B. Downey, professor of sociology at Ohio State. Similar statistics were not collected for older children.

Even so, the findings suggest that while school nutrition may not always be ideal, children — whether overweight or underweight — may benefit from the structured nature of the school year, which includes scheduled meals, snacks and recess.

“Schools provide a more structured day for most children,” Dr. Downey said. “Kids’ access to food, and they usually receive at least some consistent exercise. Children at home in the summer have freer access to food, and while there’s warmer weather, there may be less consistent exercise.”

For parents, the data suggest a need to be extra vigilant about what their children eat during the summer. But that is easier said than done. While many school districts have nutritionists involved in lunch planning, relatively few summer camp programs do.

Camps tend to focus on food safety — making sure the food doesn’t spoil in the hot sun. And parents who want to pack lunches struggle with the same problem, often resorting to packaged products that will hold up in the hot weather.

“Camp food is terrible,” said Susan B. Roberts, director of the energy metabolism laboratory at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “The problem is that they are doing what is easiest — the lowest common denominator for what kids like, and on top of that usually it has to be not something that goes bad and is no work to prepare.”

Despite the food, children who go to camp at least have the advantage of daily organized physical activity. Those who do not, particularly those in low-income families, often spend summers at home with little supervision or structure to their day. They end up watching television or playing video games and grazing on food all day.

“During the year, television viewing habits are more limited because of school and homework, but in summer, all bets are off,” said Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children’s Hospital Boston. “They lay around all day with little supervision.”

Weight gain aside, even brief exposure to certain foods can shape tastes and preferences for the rest of the year. Not only do children eat more when watching television, they are also exposed to commercials for sugar- and fat-laden foods. “Those effects have been demonstrated to alter food choice,” said Ludwig.