WW App for kids and teens

SuzySunshine99

Weight Watchers has debuted an app for kids as young as 8 years old to promote "healthy eating", but also weight loss. There is obviously some controversy about this:

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Wellness/weight-watchers-app-kids-draws-backlash-parents-calls/story?id=65052867&cid=clicksource_4380645_null_card_hed

Do you think this is a good idea?

My opinion is that if a child or teen needs to lose weight, this should be monitored closely by their parents and doctor, not an app. I think it could lead to a very unhealthy relationship with food.

LyndaBSS

While I think it's a good idea for parents to be involved in their child's health and well-being, I don't believe it's a good idea to try to accomplish that through a group that can't even provide proper nutritional information for adults.

I'd rather see professionals who are licensed in childhood nutritional requirements be involved in the process.

cwolfman13

I've never had to deal with an overweight child, but my niece's pediatricians were worried about her weight when she was about 7 or 8...not so much about the now, but where the future was heading.

Pediatrician told her parents to not put the focus on weight but rather eating healthier at home, planning for snacks rather than just grabbing stuff at will, and finding something she enjoys that is active. She's 13 now and doing great...the whole family is eating better and has gotten more active. Both my SIL and BIL took up running and my SIL has been doing half marathons. My niece got into horse back riding and she works in some stables near her home after school and on weekends to get the opportunity to ride.

bobsburgersfan

Overall, this idea seems bad to me. I'm not surprised people are opposed!
Just to respond to a few specific things they said in the news report:
1) The app might not cause many eating disorders, but it sure could be bad for any kid who does have one.
2) I very much dislike the traffic light color-coding for foods. It attaches the idea of "good" or "bad" to particular foods. (Incidentally one of the reasons I quit WW several years ago.)
3) Are before and after pictures a form of fat-shaming? I don't know if I'd call it fat-shaming (though it could be to some kids), but they felt off-putting to me. Maybe because it puts far too much emphasis on appearance? Also, the WW rep claimed that the app isn't about weight loss, but before and after pictures send the opposite message!

Here on MFP, I'm learning that there isn't a "one size fits all" solution to weight loss, so the same must be true for kids. An app like this might actually help some kids, where it would be very detrimental to others. (Although I do agree with the others who said any kind of weight loss program for kids should be monitored by parents or professionals!)

snickerscharlie

Terrible idea. Full stop.

aokoye

This sounds like a really great way to nurture eating disorders and poor relationships with food in children and teens. In other words, a horrible idea.

Terytha

I was in Weight Watchers regular at age 16. It wasn't so bad. Since fruits and veg are zero points it mostly felt like a way to reinforce eating fresh over eating cookies when hungry, which as an overweight teen with a sweet tooth, was to my benefit. Of course, I had both my mom and the people running the meetings and stuff keeping an eye on me.

An app just sounds like a recipe for unhealthy relationships with food. Particularly for small kids who are very impressionable. An 8 year old only cares about their weight/food if an adult makes them feel like crap about it.

Anyway. Forgive the ramble, my point was that it's not the worst for kids to do something like WW, but it should be limited to at least teens and not done through an app that isn't monitored.

socajam

Does the app download itself or does someone have to download it.
No one is being forced to do anything, it all comes to down person responsibility and being able to say no, that's not for me. Yes, it's easy to say, but we need to stop being such weaklings.
I love online banking, but there is no way would I use the banking pp on my phone, but that's me, Other people feel different and that's on them.

corinasue1143

If weight watchers can’t teach adults to eat healthy, why would anyone think they can teach kids to eat healthy?

CSARdiver

I hear banks do the same so you can manage and monitor your finances, yet I've heard no controversy about obsessive spending habits.

SuzySunshine99

socajam wrote: »

Does the app download itself or does someone have to download it.
No one is being forced to do anything, it all comes to down person responsibility and being able to say no, that's not for me. Yes, it's easy to say, but we need to stop being such weaklings.
I love online banking, but there is no way would I use the banking pp on my phone, but that's me, Other people feel different and that's on them.

Except we are talking about children, who may not have the best responsible, decision-making abilities yet.

SuzySunshine99

CSARdiver wrote: »

I hear banks do the same so you can manage and monitor your finances, yet I've heard no controversy about obsessive spending habits.

Banks don't develop apps for kids. If you gave an 8-year-old access to your online bank account, I bet you'd see some obsessive spending. The controversy is whether or not an app like this should be marketed to children and teens, who may not know how to use it in a healthy, responsible way.

CSARdiver

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

CSARdiver wrote: »

I hear banks do the same so you can manage and monitor your finances, yet I've heard no controversy about obsessive spending habits.

Banks don't develop apps for kids. If you gave an 8-year-old access to your online bank account, I bet you'd see some obsessive spending. The controversy is whether or not an app like this should be marketed to children and teens, who may not know how to use it in a healthy, responsible way.

Not the issue at hand.

The controversy is due to a prioritization of emotion over reason, coupled with a great deal of projection. When one wants control over a process they implement management over controllable variables.

More is caught than taught, so the best process is to lead by example. Such as app could be very useful in this process as would MFP. Otherwise you have no clue of intake and output.

aokoye

socajam wrote: »

Does the app download itself or does someone have to download it.
No one is being forced to do anything, it all comes to down person responsibility and being able to say no, that's not for me. Yes, it's easy to say, but we need to stop being such weaklings.
I love online banking, but there is no way would I use the banking pp on my phone, but that's me, Other people feel different and that's on them.

Were you talking about adults when you posted this? Children are forced to do things all. the. time - necessarily so. Some of those things aren't actually good for them, even when the people doing the forcing have the best intentions. Never mind that children have a sheer lack of agency compared to adults.

SLL1803

I think it's appalling. It's blatant profiteering, hooking children into diet culture, and promoting unhealthy and unsustainable ideas.

NorthCascades

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

socajam wrote: »

Does the app download itself or does someone have to download it.
No one is being forced to do anything, it all comes to down person responsibility and being able to say no, that's not for me. Yes, it's easy to say, but we need to stop being such weaklings.
I love online banking, but there is no way would I use the banking pp on my phone, but that's me, Other people feel different and that's on them.

Except we are talking about children, who may not have the best responsible, decision-making abilities yet.

How did somebody woo this? Children aren't just miniature adults. Their brains are still developing, they're still learning about the world, hell some of them are literally walked on a leash. And somebody disagrees that they don't have the best decision making abilities yet? Wow.

SLL1803

Maybe they think it's "woo hoo", and agree emphatically?

NorthCascades

I think it's unfortunate there's a market for this in the first place.

I also think Strava is a better app to put on your kids phone. It uses encouragement and positive reinforcement to encourage healthy habits.

AnnPT77

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

CSARdiver wrote: »

I hear banks do the same so you can manage and monitor your finances, yet I've heard no controversy about obsessive spending habits.

Banks don't develop apps for kids. If you gave an 8-year-old access to your online bank account, I bet you'd see some obsessive spending. The controversy is whether or not an app like this should be marketed to children and teens, who may not know how to use it in a healthy, responsible way.

It's a complete aside, but there actually are banking apps for kids. But it's their money, not their parents' money, just like it's the kid's food in the WW app, not the parent's.

I'm a skeptic about WW for kids, but not about the banking apps, so I'm not necessarily disagreeing with your underlying point.

Credit cards for kids would maybe be more likely to cause 3rd parties worries about creating bad spending habits, I would guess . . . but it would only be a guess. The use of money budgeting as an analogy for calorie budgeting works fairly well, but breaks down at some points.

kimny72

Minors dieting at all can be problematic for a couple of reasons.

First, it's perfectly normal for kids to go through chubby and skinny phases as they grow. Unless a child is obese, most pediatricians will advise parents to just try to keep them active and monitor over-snacking and see if their weight improves on its own.

And even for a child who does have a weight problem, caution needs to be taken to ensure they don't develop an emotional link to controlling their diet. How many women started feeling like crap about their bodies and guilty about food in their preteen and teen years because they were either put on a diet themselves or watched their own mom obsess over her food and weight?

I think if a pediatrician believes a child with a weight problem needs to learn to exhibit discipline in their eating, and the underlying issues are being dealt with, gamefying it with an app could be a positive. But too many parents don't understand weight loss or differences in a child's nutritional needs and weight fluctuations, and marketing to them and children directly does feel icky to me.

I do want to come to the defense of traffic light eating though. It's actually an old concept, and simply suggests thinking about foods before eating. There are everyday foods, sometimes foods, and treat foods. Green light foods are a go - nutritious and not too calorie dense. Yellow light foods mean slow down and be mindful - these are foods that you need to be careful of portion size or eating too often. Red light foods mean stop and think - these are treat foods that are best eaten occasionally. It actually can be a good guideline for kids when presented the right way, I believe here the problem is with the presentation, not the concept itself.

pancakerunner

cwolfman13

kimny72 wrote: »

.

I do want to come to the defense of traffic light eating though. It's actually an old concept, and simply suggests thinking about foods before eating. There are everyday foods, sometimes foods, and treat foods. Green light foods are a go - nutritious and not too calorie dense. Yellow light foods mean slow down and be mindful - these are foods that you need to be careful of portion size or eating too often. Red light foods mean stop and think - these are treat foods that are best eaten occasionally. It actually can be a good guideline for kids when presented the right way, I believe here the problem is with the presentation, not the concept itself.

That's pretty similar to what my niece's pediatrician had my SIL and BIL do.

texaskatezoo

I just got back on MFP to get control of my weight. It's that or surgery. My 12 year old daughter is following in my footsteps with unhealthy eating and excess weight. We both are going to work to get on track. I was looking for a version of MFP that would work for tweens - to help in the same way MFP helps me. I looked at the WW app for her and I actually thought it looked like exactly what she would need. Live, weekly coaching. Available via text for help. Communication to parents. Not too complicated to follow or maintain going forward. It seems to me when you get to the point where you have to focus on what you are eating and counting calories and scrutinizing foods, regardless of what program you are using, you are entering into possibility of obsessive or unhealthy relationships with food. But I think that's what got us into this situation to begin with. I think with doing it together, and focusing on being healthy and active, the two apps can help us. I want to be involved, but she also wants to own this challenge. I think that makes sense. I can't do it for her. But we can do this together.
I am open to suggestions for a better app for tweens.

BuiltLikeAPeep

texaskatezoo wrote: »

I just got back on MFP to get control of my weight. It's that or surgery. My 12 year old daughter is following in my footsteps with unhealthy eating and excess weight. We both are going to work to get on track. I was looking for a version of MFP that would work for tweens - to help in the same way MFP helps me. I looked at the WW app for her and I actually thought it looked like exactly what she would need. Live, weekly coaching. Available via text for help. Communication to parents. Not too complicated to follow or maintain going forward. It seems to me when you get to the point where you have to focus on what you are eating and counting calories and scrutinizing foods, regardless of what program you are using, you are entering into possibility of obsessive or unhealthy relationships with food. But I think that's what got us into this situation to begin with. I think with doing it together, and focusing on being healthy and active, the two apps can help us. I want to be involved, but she also wants to own this challenge. I think that makes sense. I can't do it for her. But we can do this together.
I am open to suggestions for a better app for tweens.

I believe as long as a parent is monitoring the child using the app, it's a good thing. Maybe they should require the parent to download the app and sign in so they can actively monitor what's going on.

penguinmama87

BuiltLikeAPeep wrote: »

texaskatezoo wrote: »

I just got back on MFP to get control of my weight. It's that or surgery. My 12 year old daughter is following in my footsteps with unhealthy eating and excess weight. We both are going to work to get on track. I was looking for a version of MFP that would work for tweens - to help in the same way MFP helps me. I looked at the WW app for her and I actually thought it looked like exactly what she would need. Live, weekly coaching. Available via text for help. Communication to parents. Not too complicated to follow or maintain going forward. It seems to me when you get to the point where you have to focus on what you are eating and counting calories and scrutinizing foods, regardless of what program you are using, you are entering into possibility of obsessive or unhealthy relationships with food. But I think that's what got us into this situation to begin with. I think with doing it together, and focusing on being healthy and active, the two apps can help us. I want to be involved, but she also wants to own this challenge. I think that makes sense. I can't do it for her. But we can do this together.
I am open to suggestions for a better app for tweens.

I believe as long as a parent is monitoring the child using the app, it's a good thing. Maybe they should require the parent to download the app and sign in so they can actively monitor what's going on.

Yeah. I don't let my children have devices at all, but parental access and supervision would be an absolute minimum requirement for me.

For the most part, our meals are eaten at home and I'm not eating substantially different food than my children are. This might change as they get older, but for preteens I'd think parents are still the ones doing modelling and observation. I'm reluctant to put that responsibility even in part on an app.

panda4153

It’s a tool that’s all. Like any health tool it can be used appropriately, or it can be abused. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I honestly wish I had something like it as a teenager, I maybe would not have gotten so out of hand with my eating habits if I had a tool to help me track and understand my decisions around eating.

For a child who needs something like this and who’s parents or guardians are actively involved and the proper healthcare considerations are being accounted for this is something that could be very helpful.

Lots of good tools can be abused, but I don’t think it should be the tool is not available. Instead we need better access to mental health care for those who struggle with any kind of disordered thinking and we need to be watching out for and teaching our kids about how to think critically and make sound decisions for themselves.