Weight Watchers have launched a new weight loss app for youngsters aged 8-17 years old, despite robust evidence that dieting during childhood and adolescence is dangerous and strongly increases the risk of eating disorders and lifelong weight struggles/weight cycling.
About Kurbo app
Children and young people enter their height, weight, age and health goals, then begin tracking what they eat. The app scores food choices using a “traffic-light” system: Green items are “go foods” that can be eaten freely; yellow foods should be consumed in moderate portions; and red foods should make kids “stop and think.” As somebody who was diagnosed with anorexia at 14, this app is horrifying.
The app has just been released in the US and could spread to other countries soon - unless we stop them.
Dieting and eating disorders
Dieting is consistently found to be the single largest predictor of eating disorders, which have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness and have affected me personally and many of my friends.
My experiences
I was diagnosed with anorexia and spent time in hospital when I was 14. I found that calorie counting, tracking food and exercise, and traffic light systems categorising food as good or bad fuelled my eating disorder and made it harder to recover. There is strong research evidence which shows that teens who are diet are up to 18 times more likely to develop an eating disorder.
Please sign the petition
Please sign my petition to get Kurbo removed: chng.it/pq5ScgXgFx