Tiffany King has made progress. When the 5-foot-tall 12-year-old arrived at Camp Pocono Trails in June, she weighed 354 pounds. By Sunday’s weigh-in at the weight loss camp, she had lost 37 pounds. She hopes to get down to 304 by the time camp ends next week. Whether she does or not, Tiffany is already one of the lucky few.

Her family could not have afforded camp if Tiffany had not won a scholarship essay contest.

There are nine million overweight or obese children in the United States. And although the prevalence of childhood obesity has tripled since 1980, there are few comprehensive or affordable programs to treat them. Summer weight loss camps are usually profit-making and can cost more than $1,000 a week. Most insurance does not cover that cost.

For Dr. Walter J. Pories, a well-known gastric bypass surgeon, the dearth of government and insurance financing for such comprehensive weight-loss programs is “the single most frustrating problem in dealing with childhood obesity.”

Christina Benson, Tiffany’s mother, knows all too well that insurance coverage is spotty. She works for a health insurance program in Durham, N.C. “I work in the health care industry and I think it is really a disgrace, a disadvantage to our members, that we cannot offer this kind of program under reimbursement,” Ms. Benson, a widow since Tiffany’s father died, said.