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Is 13 too young for a diet ?????

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Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    How about diabetic children who have to learn to monitor their intake or die? There is also the transition period where the parent hands over responsibility to the teen. There are strategies that work for them.

    My friend who fostered such children emphasized the positive, worked with the temperament and preferences of the child, and ALWAYS has attractive fresh fruit available and visible for snacking. She cured a few from food hoarding.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I remember my first diet...I was 15. I don't think at 13 I even thought about weight. At 15 I didn't need to slim down but wanted to be skinny like my best friends.

    I don't like the thought of young teenagers over thinking what or how much they eat... but I don't know what the best plan for them is either.
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,899 Member
    Eating habits start in the home. He should join into meal preps but the word "diet" need not be used. He is not willing or mature enough to process it. If junk is in the house....WHY?!
    He is a kid and they do not process like adults.
    If you are hiding foods that are not sound but YOU want them....don't worry...he knows it!
    As the adult and leader of the pack everything starts there.
  • berky06
    berky06 Posts: 210 Member
    Not sure how I feel about this. I did WW in high school. I went from around 180 - 126. It was great! My mom made ALL of my meals, packed my lunch and kept me on track. I lost weight every week. Did I learn how to eat healthy from WW? Nope. My mom did all the work for me, I only had to eat what she prepared. Here it is 40 years later and I'm still trying to lose weight. I think if a child is seriously overweight, something should be done-but how to go about it, I don't know. If kids are taught from a young age and see examples from adults how to eat healthy, snack etc. in moderation, and exercise maybe that would promote healthy habits. Thank goodness, both of my grown kids have never had to experience a weight problem. They both put me to shame. They eat well, limit snacks and if they do get to the slippery slope they know how to reel it in. I don't know if having an overweight mom makes them more aware or not. We've never talked about it. I do have to say it was my daughter that hooked me up with MFP, she used it to drop her baby weight. She looks great and is smaller than before she got pregnant.
  • 2baninja
    2baninja Posts: 519 Member
    I just read an article today about WW. I believe it said that in May, it's going to shift it's focus from weight loss to "overall health and wellness" at any fitness level. So I'm just wondering if this was a good time to announce something going forward with teens. It's not stated in the article, so it's a total assumption on my part.

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/weight-watchers-is-shifting-from-weight-loss-to-wellness-as-healthy-is-the-new-skinny-2018-02-28

    I thought they did that a few years ago, with their new plan, then again just recently with there new "freestyle" plan, they keep coming up with new "names", to call their same old plan...
  • 2baninja
    2baninja Posts: 519 Member
    If they are going to teach healthy and not harp on diet/losing weight, I think it's a good plan, but others are right, kids get that (sometimes) at home, at school, they've heard it before, it's no different then us adults, we know what we should do, but it's all about making our selves do it.
    Once they hit an age, they will do what they want no matter what the adults tell them, you know, teenagers know best, adults no nothing.....

    And talking about not learning how to eat junk in moderation, because some didn't have it in their house growing up, means nothing, we had junk food in our house growing up, Mom fed us a healthy dinner, (what was healthy 40 yrs ago), and we still grew up fat. So having it in the house didn't help us learn to eat it in moderation.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    I'm very skeptical of this program WW is going to offer up ... in my mind, it's a ploy for bigger market share through selling their food product line, and a marketing strategy to get membership followers.
  • ysache13
    ysache13 Posts: 107 Member
    I wish they had that when I was 13 - I was "shamed" at a doctors office from some old man (like Marcus Welby for us older folk) and I started yo-yo dieting anyway at 7 - I'm amazed at the fear when the kids are doing drugs or parents are putting kids on drugs that maybe are not needed - things that really harm - Any form of eating healthy with others I personally feel would be a blessing if the child is looking for help! They are starving themselves at that age OR eating junk food all day behind parents backs! I'd be more concerned about that! just my heart's opinion
  • WillingtoLose1001984
    WillingtoLose1001984 Posts: 240 Member
    I started counting calories around age 13. I was 5' 2" and 125 lbs - not overweight, but definitely chubbier than almost all of my classmates. One of the tricky things about that age is that I was kind of heavy for a 13-year-old, but not heavy for an adult. So was I just going through puberty earlier and developing my adult body type, or was I gaining too much weight? I believe my doctor said I was in the right place on my growth curve. I ate a ton, but I was also super active and growing. But when I started to be conscious of my body compared to my peers, it didn't feel good.

    I restricted calories and got down to 112-115 lbs at 5' 2" for a few years. Not underweight at all but this was at a time when I was probably "supposed" to be gaining a little weight or maintaining. I stopped growing in height and stopped getting my period. Didn't get the period back until I was back up over 120 lbs and didn't get the height back until I was 17/18. I think the experience deprived me of some key years of learning how to maintain my diet in a healthy but moderate way - I am having to relearn a lot of that in my 20s. The positives of dieting were that I learned about calories and nutrition, and learned how to cook, so I was more prepared for living independently than some people who had never cooked in their life and was very aware of marketing techniques around healthy and unhealthy foods.

    I missed those key years of learning how to manage my own food intake and my weight in an appropriate way, and wound up gaining quite a bit of weight around age 19-20. I'm back down to a normal weight now (123 lbs at 5' 3"), but still struggling to learn how it all works in a healthy but sustainable way. Learning how to listen to my body, etc. Balancing exercise and health concerns with other things that I want to do. I think if teens can "diet" in a way that means learning how to balance health with fun, and how to listen to their bodies and notice/respond to changes without going overboard, that's good. But I'm skeptical because I also know how teens can take things to an extreme and don't have the experience necessary to approach things with moderation, unless they're carefully guided and willing to listen. Historically, a lot of weight loss programs for teens have been pretty psychologically damaging so I'd be wary of that.

    Being overweight as a teen is very psychologically damaging! What about that? I always felt like people didn't like me and would avoid me because I was overweight. I didn't have many friends, what I thought at the time was because I was overweight. It seemed like people, even girls, avoided me. I'm not sure if it was a cultural thing or what. It is very damaging to be overweight as a kid and I would try to change it if I had a daughter in the same situation for her own well being.
  • WillingtoLose1001984
    WillingtoLose1001984 Posts: 240 Member
    edited March 2018
    If they are going to teach healthy and not harp on diet/losing weight, I think it's a good plan, but others are right, kids get that (sometimes) at home, at school, they've heard it before, it's no different then us adults, we know what we should do, but it's all about making our selves do it.
    Once they hit an age, they will do what they want no matter what the adults tell them, you know, teenagers know best, adults no nothing.....

    And talking about not learning how to eat junk in moderation, because some didn't have it in their house growing up, means nothing, we had junk food in our house growing up, Mom fed us a healthy dinner, (what was healthy 40 yrs ago), and we still grew up fat. So having it in the house didn't help us learn to eat it in moderation.

    Eating healthy doesnt always help you lose weight. My parents had pretty healthy stuff around at various points in my life and I never really lost a bunch of weight. I did lean out temporarily when I was about 15 at 150. I definitely wasn't aware of it. It may have been the result of depression. I think awareness of when your child is doing good should be brought to his or her attention. Otherwise it is hard to maintain and can kind of blow by.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    xxerniexx wrote: »
    side note - teach your kids to like vegetables! growing up rice and beans were considered vegetables in my life. legit i have eaten more vegetables in 2018 than i can say my entire teen years!

    I completely agree with this. I wasn't exactly "taught to like vegetables", but that was just how we ate, it was our normal. When I decided to lose weight I had no problem at all coming up with low calorie vegetable heavy dishes because I already ate a lot of them and liked them a lot, it was normal for me to eat vegetables. This made my transition to dieting not as drastic as some people experience, all I needed to do was to just modify the way I prepared some of my dishes by using less oil and just eat less of others. My already vegetable heavy diet made it easy. Making vegetables a normal part of a child's diet is always a good thing, but if I were made to eat vegetables because they're healthy not because that's just how we eat I'm not sure how I would have reacted to this.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    13 is not too young to learn about healthy dietary habits. If the child has a weight issue, it's not too young to get professional help. Don't think a one size fits all plan is appropriate.
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
    edited March 2018
    i didnt know they didnt have teens..my grandmother had me in WW when i was in 8th grade...so 13 or 14.
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
    I think that it's wrong that WW is targeting teens from the standpoint of ethical marketing. I don't think that they should be "selling" weight loss to them in the same way that they do to adults.

    But, that said, I went on my own version of a "diet" at 15 and lost 100 lbs without any regrets, so I don't think that I can really comment on whether teens should diet or not. :/
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    I have allowed my 14 year old to sign up for MFP because she was upset about her weight as compared to her peers. She isn't actually over weight, just at the higher end of "normal" - but she wanted tools to help her make better choices and to see how different foods impact her so I decided to okay it. I did research to see how many calories she should be intaking and adjusted her goals accordingly. We are also exercising together 3 times a week.

    We still have fun food, junk has not been removed from the house, and we focus on the learning aspect of making better choices. I think she also enjoys being able to lord over me about not logging my food (i'm the one who is overweight)

    I do wish there was a more teen focused program that she could use, something that focuses more on the educational aspect of food. For example, she loves to see when something she eats hits a lot of nutrient goals.

    I'm not sure if you realize this but 14 is a violation of the terms of service. She should be on a place like Spark Teens and not MFP. They have more information and tools geared for teens while MFP is strictly for adults 18 and over.

    That's no longer a thing, unfortunately. If it's under the supervision on her parents and doctor I don't see why not.

    Did they change the TOS? I feel old here now lol. I would highly recommend active supervision of any young teens knowing what goes on here. :fearful:
  • bepperson30
    bepperson30 Posts: 40 Member
    well dieting and eating healthy are 2 different things. all weight watchers is, is portion control but you still eat anything you want. you aren't cutting certain things out like carbs or sweets or only eating certain items. I think it's a great idea to help young people understand what their body needs versus wants.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I have allowed my 14 year old to sign up for MFP because she was upset about her weight as compared to her peers. She isn't actually over weight, just at the higher end of "normal" - but she wanted tools to help her make better choices and to see how different foods impact her so I decided to okay it. I did research to see how many calories she should be intaking and adjusted her goals accordingly. We are also exercising together 3 times a week.

    We still have fun food, junk has not been removed from the house, and we focus on the learning aspect of making better choices. I think she also enjoys being able to lord over me about not logging my food (i'm the one who is overweight)

    I do wish there was a more teen focused program that she could use, something that focuses more on the educational aspect of food. For example, she loves to see when something she eats hits a lot of nutrient goals.

    I'm not sure if you realize this but 14 is a violation of the terms of service. She should be on a place like Spark Teens and not MFP. They have more information and tools geared for teens while MFP is strictly for adults 18 and over.

    That's no longer a thing, unfortunately. If it's under the supervision on her parents and doctor I don't see why not.

    Actually, it still seems to be. From the TOS (https://account.underarmour.com/terms-and-conditions?locale=en):
    1. Use of the Services and Your Account

    (a) Who can use the Under Armour Services
    Under Armour supports and encourages athletes of all ages, but you must be at least 13 to use most of the Services, and at least 18 to use Under Armour Shopping and MyFitnessPal.

    You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age to use MyFitnessPal, eighteen (18) years of age to use Under Armour Shopping (unless otherwise specified in separate policies applicable to certain specific jurisdictions) and at least thirteen (13) years of age to use the other Services. If you are between the ages of 13-18, you may use the Services (excluding Under Armour Shopping and MyFitnessPal) only with the supervision and consent of a parent or guardian. No individual under these age limits may use the Services, provide any Personal Data to Under Armour, or otherwise submit Personal Data through the Services (e.g., a name, address, telephone number, or email address).
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    I have allowed my 14 year old to sign up for MFP because she was upset about her weight as compared to her peers. She isn't actually over weight, just at the higher end of "normal" - but she wanted tools to help her make better choices and to see how different foods impact her so I decided to okay it. I did research to see how many calories she should be intaking and adjusted her goals accordingly. We are also exercising together 3 times a week.

    We still have fun food, junk has not been removed from the house, and we focus on the learning aspect of making better choices. I think she also enjoys being able to lord over me about not logging my food (i'm the one who is overweight)

    I do wish there was a more teen focused program that she could use, something that focuses more on the educational aspect of food. For example, she loves to see when something she eats hits a lot of nutrient goals.

    I'm not sure if you realize this but 14 is a violation of the terms of service. She should be on a place like Spark Teens and not MFP. They have more information and tools geared for teens while MFP is strictly for adults 18 and over.

    That's no longer a thing, unfortunately. If it's under the supervision on her parents and doctor I don't see why not.

    Actually, it still seems to be. From the TOS (https://account.underarmour.com/terms-and-conditions?locale=en):
    1. Use of the Services and Your Account

    (a) Who can use the Under Armour Services
    Under Armour supports and encourages athletes of all ages, but you must be at least 13 to use most of the Services, and at least 18 to use Under Armour Shopping and MyFitnessPal.

    You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age to use MyFitnessPal, eighteen (18) years of age to use Under Armour Shopping (unless otherwise specified in separate policies applicable to certain specific jurisdictions) and at least thirteen (13) years of age to use the other Services. If you are between the ages of 13-18, you may use the Services (excluding Under Armour Shopping and MyFitnessPal) only with the supervision and consent of a parent or guardian. No individual under these age limits may use the Services, provide any Personal Data to Under Armour, or otherwise submit Personal Data through the Services (e.g., a name, address, telephone number, or email address).

    I'm from the pre-UA days, I miss those so much, things were much more interesting lol.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I have allowed my 14 year old to sign up for MFP because she was upset about her weight as compared to her peers. She isn't actually over weight, just at the higher end of "normal" - but she wanted tools to help her make better choices and to see how different foods impact her so I decided to okay it. I did research to see how many calories she should be intaking and adjusted her goals accordingly. We are also exercising together 3 times a week.

    We still have fun food, junk has not been removed from the house, and we focus on the learning aspect of making better choices. I think she also enjoys being able to lord over me about not logging my food (i'm the one who is overweight)

    I do wish there was a more teen focused program that she could use, something that focuses more on the educational aspect of food. For example, she loves to see when something she eats hits a lot of nutrient goals.

    I'm not sure if you realize this but 14 is a violation of the terms of service. She should be on a place like Spark Teens and not MFP. They have more information and tools geared for teens while MFP is strictly for adults 18 and over.

    That's no longer a thing, unfortunately. If it's under the supervision on her parents and doctor I don't see why not.

    Did they change the TOS? I feel old here now lol. I would highly recommend active supervision of any young teens knowing what goes on here. :fearful:

    No they didn't, I just feel they should. I just feel bad for teens for not having any options.
This discussion has been closed.