Too Young?

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klabasik
klabasik Posts: 8 Member
in Motivation and Support
So -- I come from a family of chubbies, and my niece who is 14 is just starting to diet. I worry because girls that age can have very unhealthy notions about weight loss (we have talked about some of them, but you know how teenagers can be) Is 14 too young to be using MFP? I worry she will become calorie obsessed in a bad way, and not know a healthy limit. I worry that she might develop an eating disorder as result of the dieting and weight consciousness. As a side note, she is raised by grandparents and as a family, my parents have taken a "it takes a village approach" Its not like this is something we can discuss with her mom. My mom, her parental figure, diets and had bariatric surgery but doesn't use an app like this she feels its too much work. Niece is about to get her ipad and would like to try the app. I haven't introduced her to it yet for fear it might be a bad thing.

Any thoughts from people who know /have teenagers that use the app?

Replies

  • nicolewilliams16
    nicolewilliams16 Posts: 8
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    I don't personally see a problem with it, I'm 18 now and have gone through stages where I wanted to watch my weight and simply didn't care about it. As long as there is no obsession with eating too many calories, and she's not eating too few calories it should be fine. Remind her that a balanced diet combined with exercise is key and that its okay to have a small amount of "cheat" food every once in a while.
  • threefancy
    threefancy Posts: 93 Member
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    Sparkteens.com

    This site is for 18+
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    This site is for adults.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    Sparkteens.com

    This site is for 18+

    ^This.

    This site, for all of its good, is more appropriate for adults. Also, for her age, targeting food groups and macros, and not specifically calories, might be a better approach.
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
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    This site is only for adults. I know teenagers come on here, though.

    Obviously I don't think teens, especially at 14, should be dieting unless they absolutely have to. I did diet myself at a young age ( 16 ) and became calorie obsessed, much like what you fear, and not in a good way. I became anorexic. I'm not saying that will happen to your family member, but teenager's brains are not fully developed. They can't always understand and comprehend the right ways to lose weight. When I was a teenager, I thought that I needed to cut my calories down to 300 to lose weight.
  • kwesley01
    kwesley01 Posts: 1
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    I think it is important for her to want to eat healthy and to be active, but I don't know if I would recommend calorie counting at such a young age. I personally battle with an eating/self image disorder. I began to count calories to track what I was consuming, it eventually (over 4 months time) became an obsession to where I would try to lower my number of calories to a little as possible. At my lowest, I was only consuming 200-300 per day. I'm not saying this happens to all, but if there is any potential of a self image issue, I would not recommend calorie counting.
    It has been 7 years since I was at my lowest and it is still a struggle at times for me. I am able calorie count now more in the capacity to ensure that I am eating enough.
    I pray for guidance in this area and strength for your niece to love herself however she may be. If she loves herself, I think the potential negative effects may be less likely.
  • aliakynes
    aliakynes Posts: 352 Member
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    Talk to her about your concerns. Commend her for wanting to take control of her eating habits. Suggest that sparkteens might be a better route for her to take. Maybe you can check it out with her. And also let her know that as she is still growing, she should be eating maintenance and not a deficit while focusing on getting fit (unless it's a doctor approved deficit). So if she inevitably decides to stick with mfp, she'll have enough information to stay safe.
  • _cdaley
    _cdaley Posts: 79 Member
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    No to this site. I wouldn't even frame it as a diet, more as learning healthful eating habits. If she comes from a family with some weight issues, chances are she has learned some bad habits at home. Maybe you could help her learn about portion sizes or cook meals together. Also, at the risk of sounding preachy, I think a lot of kids/teens are not very active these days. Of course that doesn't apply to all kids/teens, but perhaps she could join a sport or activity that gets her moving a few times a week, if she doesn't do this already. This also could help her form healthy habits that can help her as she gets older.
  • klabasik
    klabasik Posts: 8 Member
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    Thank you all so much for the great feedback. We will look into sparkteens together. I did not realize this site was 18+ and that alone makes it a disqualifier for her. We have set a hard line against sites not for her age group. Again, thanks so much!

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