Fitness standard for 17 year olds?

cabinetbureau · 2026-08-04T10:54:02+00:00

Is there a set of measures that can be used to assess fitness/physical capability for an older teenage? Not like a bleep test necessarily but, can they walk at moderate pace for 30 mins? or any recommended quantities of daily activities? My 17 year old is overweight and barely moves and I am so worried they are disabling themselves gradually. Attendance at college/grades are middling, work 2x 2 hours shifts a week and I am v anxious they will not be able to cope with further study or work when they finish this time next year. Doctor and blood test reveal iron and vitamin D deficiency so they are taking tablets but I fear it won’t help with energy levels muchif they are so sedentary.

BringBackCatsEyes · 06/08/2026 12:46

LemonSnail · 06/08/2026 12:28

You look like a regular size 10 ish woman, not overweight and not underweight.

Wrong thread?

LemonSnail · 06/08/2026 12:28

You look like a regular size 10 ish woman, not overweight and not underweight.

Original poster

cabinetbureau · 06/08/2026 12:08

I asked her about gym and she said she will consider it but completely ruled out what I considered the best option because “a TikToker goes there with meta glasses” which is a whole other headfuck I didn’t need today. We have agreed I will buy her a gym outfit and we will get signed up and to our first session by next Friday once my car is fixed (gym is some distance). I will
aim to get her there twice a week and am going to switch my gym to the one she is ok with to help her settle. I hope she will begin to see there are other ways to be and might influence her friends to try too

thanks for supportive responses.

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Halfblindbunny · 06/08/2026 11:52

cabinetbureau · 06/08/2026 11:22

I don’t think she is binge eating disorder, but maybe odd binges sometimes. She eats healthy meals I prepare but also junk as well. As I said, I am not making this about her weight but more about the health risks of constant inactivity. She doesn’t know she is unfit (well she does, due to my conversations) because she never tests herself. She can walk 7 mins to school, sit still all day and walk 7 mins home to sit still again without issue. To her, that is fine because all her friends are the same. She knows she is fat and doesn’t care. She wears figure hugging stuff I wouldn’t wear at a size 12/14.

I would like to avoid this being about her weight. Some women I train with are extremely heavy but able to exercise for hours/play demanding contact sport for some time/ hold down full time jobs on their feet. Like I said, my worry is about her future health, and how to encourage her without her feeling nagged and hassled over what, to her, is completely unimportant. She scared me on a day out by not coping beyond 30 minutes and wanting to go home. To her, being tired after half an hour is normal and I would like to help her see it’s not normal and is dangerous

I think unfortunately whilst she has the friendship group she has it may be tricky for her to see what is "normal". This may be controversial but I do know of some groups of teens (always girls) where being bigger and sedentary is actually their preferred lifestyle you could almost say it is their goal. Maybe when she leaves college and has a wider network of people she associates with and activities she wants to participate in she may come to the realisation herself.

ForPinkDuck · 06/08/2026 11:23

Im aware what BED is. Im just saying its something to be aware of im not diagnosing online.

Original poster

cabinetbureau · 06/08/2026 11:22

I don’t think she is binge eating disorder, but maybe odd binges sometimes. She eats healthy meals I prepare but also junk as well. As I said, I am not making this about her weight but more about the health risks of constant inactivity. She doesn’t know she is unfit (well she does, due to my conversations) because she never tests herself. She can walk 7 mins to school, sit still all day and walk 7 mins home to sit still again without issue. To her, that is fine because all her friends are the same. She knows she is fat and doesn’t care. She wears figure hugging stuff I wouldn’t wear at a size 12/14.

I would like to avoid this being about her weight. Some women I train with are extremely heavy but able to exercise for hours/play demanding contact sport for some time/ hold down full time jobs on their feet. Like I said, my worry is about her future health, and how to encourage her without her feeling nagged and hassled over what, to her, is completely unimportant. She scared me on a day out by not coping beyond 30 minutes and wanting to go home. To her, being tired after half an hour is normal and I would like to help her see it’s not normal and is dangerous

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BringBackCatsEyes · 06/08/2026 08:45

ForPinkDuck · 05/08/2026 20:06

I can see why your worried op. Alot of people who are overweight have a binge eating disorder, dd may or may have this.

BED is a serious mental health disorder with strict diagnostic criteria.
From what OP has said it doesn’t sound like her DD is displaying those behaviours.

AtleastitsnotMonday · 05/08/2026 20:11

I’d suggest a Fitbit or Apple Watch with an aim of hitting 10000 steps. There is something about seeing it in black and white that is more meaningful than just moving. Is she in education still? I know we are in holiday period now but if she tracked steps in a usual school/college day she may buy in to small changes to up her step count. It’s mostly about finding the motivation to start.

ForPinkDuck · 05/08/2026 20:06

I can see why your worried op. Alot of people who are overweight have a binge eating disorder, dd may or may have this.

Original poster

cabinetbureau · 05/08/2026 19:26

I care less that she is overweight and more that she has no stamina whatsoever though. I’d love her to eat less
junk but I can’t make her change all
her unhealthy habits in one go I imagine

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LemonSnail · 05/08/2026 18:46

I think this is much more a food/diet issue than an exercise/movement one.

Original poster

cabinetbureau · 05/08/2026 18:35

I would throw money at this if she would engage with a conversation about gym but she just won’t. It’s so upsetting

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Original poster

cabinetbureau · 05/08/2026 18:33

Social life is yapping on video calls or hanging out at each others houses ( all within half a mile). Friends’ parents often give lifts which I think isn’t helping

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Original poster

cabinetbureau · 05/08/2026 18:31

I don’t know her weight, fuck only knows how that conversation would go. She is about 5 foot 7, size 7 feet and wears size 16-20

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Original poster

cabinetbureau · 05/08/2026 18:29

Not sure why I feel the need to answer questions from posters who haven’t answered mine but this has got my back up a bit.

i am not overweight, nor are siblings, other parent isn’t, or either step parent. I don’t keep junk food at home. She is given it by her equally fat friends or buys it at the corner shop on the 0.3 mile walk to college using money she has earned at her job.

role modelling: I gym, do Pilates and play sport. But I am not a sports pest/evangelist about it. Her dad mountain bikes and paddle boards. Olde sibling gyms, runs and boulders. Younger sibling plays out and bikes. She is not ok but will not talk. Accessed private therapy in year 11 and attendance improved a bit. I wasn’t intending on sending her an article or
a stat, just wanted to inform my own conversation with her, if I can get her to engage.

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BringBackCatsEyes · 05/08/2026 10:44

backformoreofthesame · 05/08/2026 08:23

At 17 a healthy ( and therefor active ) child can run a half marathon without specific training in sub 2 hrs

could you start something like Parkrun/ walk together ? Once the tablets have kicked in

hes 17 - it’s hard but he is still a child and it is a parents duty to model good behaviours and help them find the activities that they enjoy most

the fact he’s now got meds from the doctors is great - a chance to reset

Maybe without specific running training but they’d need to have a pretty strong base from other sports. 13 miles is a long way.
I’d agree with you if it was 10k.

backformoreofthesame · 05/08/2026 09:46

Flippoflak · 05/08/2026 09:43

At 17 a healthy ( and therefor active ) child can run a half marathon without specific training in sub 2 hrs

At 17 I was swimming for my county, I still couldn't have run a sub 2 hour half marathon without specific training.

swmming - you probably had all the wrong muscles ! But I bet you would have surprised yourself

Theyreeatingthedogs · 05/08/2026 09:46

Walking aa moderate pace for 30minutes may be fine for a 80 year old but not a 17 year old. What is their weight and height?

MJagain · 05/08/2026 09:45

cabinetbureau · 05/08/2026 05:47

Thank you. I don’t want to measure as a way to berate but more as something they could aim for. lots of people find external benchmarks easier to believe than their mum telling them stuff

Without knowing much about the child, a simple step counter is probably the way to go for now. With an app that rewards for hitting 10k per day. Or 8k to start with if that’s more achievable.

You need to help them associate activity with feeling good, not bad. So a walk to town / library is just as good as a hike in the mountains for now. A swim in a lake is as good as a treadmill. A game of padel with you ? Work with what you have. If you share more details about what they like that would help. Overall you are right that not being able to walk 30 mins is faaaaaar far below a healthy acceptable fitness for a 17yo and so this needs careful management. Also need to consider barriers - for example have they got decent trainers? Small things like that might help.

Flippoflak · 05/08/2026 09:43

At 17 a healthy ( and therefor active ) child can run a half marathon without specific training in sub 2 hrs

At 17 I was swimming for my county, I still couldn't have run a sub 2 hour half marathon without specific training.

Wofflewaffle · 05/08/2026 09:38

BringBackCatsEyes · 05/08/2026 08:53

And I have a 17 yo son so maybe just thought of him.

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Me too. But I confess I assumed fitness = boy. Tbf I only have teenage boys, and the teenage girls I do know generally aren’t into fitness in the same way - they don’t compare muscles or lap times anyway.

I’ll stop digging now…🤦‍♀️

BringBackCatsEyes · 05/08/2026 08:53

BringBackCatsEyes · 05/08/2026 08:49

Sorry, I don’t know why I assumed that. My mistake.

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And I have a 17 yo son so maybe just thought of him.

BringBackCatsEyes · 05/08/2026 08:49

Halfblindbunny · 05/08/2026 08:36

I'm sorry did I miss where we found out this teen is a boy?

Sorry, I don’t know why I assumed that. My mistake.

Zuve · 05/08/2026 08:38

Get them a sport watch, and a dumb phone. Then a little goal, say walk a mile or something. Then ask if they would like a bike or swimming regularly.

Halfblindbunny · 05/08/2026 08:36

I'm sorry did I miss where we found out this teen is a boy?