Is WW suitable for my 16 y o DD?

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DD is nearly 17, is 5ft 3 and weighs about 9 stone 11. I think she needs to lose about a stone. I have never nagged her about her weight because I always thought she would tackle it when she was ready to - esp once she started mmeting up with boys. Well, she is at that stage now and I want to help her.
I guess WW meetings will be mainly mums - or are there teens too? Does anyone have any experience of teens at WW. I am thinking of joining up too as I could do with losing a about a stone and a half.

It's been a while since I did WW (stopped when I became pg but plan to go back once family is complete)but when I did there was a special plan for teenagers. Think you only need doctors approval if under 16. It would be good if you did it together as ww is muh more effective with support. Good luck.

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I would try to get her to go to slimming world instead as it promotes healthy eating and if your doctor agrees she needs to lose weight she may be able to get vouchers on the NHS so it will be free.

At that height and weight her BMI is still in the healthy range. If you think her (and your) diet could be healthier then perhaps look at what you are all eating at home and cut down or get rid of unhealthy snacks such as crisps and biscuits and do more exercise together, but please don't drag her off to WW at 16. If she is happy as she is, which is not overweight, then why would you want her to start obsessing about her weight? She probably still has more growing to do and may slim down a bit over the next couple of years anyway.

For info - your daughter's BMI is fine.

I would advise VERY stongly against any kind of restricting plan (points, calories or SW-style) for a teenager who has a healthy BMI.
It will only end with her heavier. Honestly.

Other people at WW are likely to be genuinely overweight and going there will give her a warped sense of her own body.

If you think she's eating the wrong types of food then change that at home by changing what you buy... concentrate on nutrients and vitamins and a healthy amount of fat and sugar.

Encourage more activity including sport and exercise.

But PLEASE don't pressure her to lose weight if she's not actually overweight.

I agree with fluffles and mablemurple- please be careful about damaging her self esteem and body image.
16 is far too young for WW- just sensible excercise and cutting out sugary snacks should do it.
don't think a stone at her age is anything to worry about

If she wants to do it and she's a sensible girl then I think it's better to have a supervised diet than a faddy crash-type diet.

Nothing wrong with learning how to eat better, managing portion size etc.

But she's not overweight CFC! I agree about crash diets, but learning how to eat better and managing portion sizes, if the OP's daughter needs to, is better done at home for a 16 year old, through a shift to healthier eating and more activity for the whole family.

I have always been one of those annoying skinny women who eat what they like blah blah. After my last baby 16 mths ago I got it into my head that I would go to Slimmers World to lose the 'baby weight'. Loads of my mates were going and I was curious.

Every bloody idea I had about diets and dieting companies was reinforced by those few bizzare weeks!

A whole hour discussing the best slice of bread to eat, being told that fruit juice was bad for you, tinned macaroni was good and food was organised into 'syns'. Notice the word play on 'syns' . Yes there were younger women there and often they would cry because they had only lost a 1lb. Proper sobbing! My friends would wear the same clothes every week to get weighed in so they wouldnt have heavy clothes. Every single tiny 1lb was measured and discussed. FFS you could do a poo and lose a 1lb.

It was demented. AND there were people there who had obviously been coming backwards and forwards to meetings for years.

I am sorry to be so negative specially has I have no positive advice to offer. I just found the whole experience depressing.

You don't have to technically be overweight to feel heavy and frumpy.

I went to WW at 17, I wasn't overweight as such but I could (and did) easily lose a stone without turning me underweight or skinny. It just trimmed me down a little.

It is possible to do a diet and lose a FEW pounds without it turning into an eating disorder. Half a stone off or so (when you have it to spare) can make all the difference to your self-esteem.

If OP's DD wants to do it and she is positive about it, then it's not too young no, IMO. 16 (actually nearly 17) is plenty old enough to legally have sex, leave school, work full time and live independently so a carefully managed WW diet plan to lose a few pounds isn't the end of the world.

Thanks for these replies. I agree it would be much better if we could improve our diet and exercise a bit more - but it just isn't working. Also I know her BMI is ok but dd looks fairly overweight - she may weigh more than she has told me. The last thing I want to do is start her on a lifetime of faddy crash diets, or make her feel bad about herself. Crumbs adolescence is tough enough already!!
I really thought that as she got into her teens that she would get taller but slimmer but it just hasn't happened.
Also I feel time is running out for me to help her make the right food choices as she eats out more often now.
Chegirl, thanks - that is exactly what I feared WW might be like.
Perhaps I'll talk to our doctor and see what she says.

At 17 you've got a chance to help her start as she means to go on. If she's in a healthy BMI range and happy with how she looks, I think you're potentially setting her up for problems if you start her dieting at that age.

The best thing you can do is to find some exercise she enjoys. Buy her a wii fit or pay for her to go to some dance classes or to a gym if she's interested. Perhaps get her interested in cooking if she's not already and try to let her see the differences rather than telling her (which at her age will not, I assume, work!)

I'm a sort of worst case scenario...

I was chubby as a child, and fat as a teenager as I got more unhappy with myself very complex family circumstances. My mother got me to diet when I was still at middle school so I can't have been more than 12, and I wasn't actually fat. That set the pattern for me in my life. I was convinced I was fat, so when I actually got fat I didn't really feel any different. Now at 29 I'm a size 20/22 and have been up to a 26. I've been in that binge and diet cycle for more than 15 years and it is not a healthy place to be.

FWIW its taken me a long time but I now have a more healthy attitude to exercise (still have to fix my food issues) and over the last few years have been on a downward trend (not counting pregnancy!), but it took 10 years to get to a place where that was possible for me.

thanks CM - yes that is exactly what I want to avoid!
DD has gone to a formal dinner at her school tonight and I felt really bad for her. Out of 100 girls DD only 1 or 2 looked larger than her - and I know she felt very very self conscious about her weight.
The good news is that she is really making an effort to increase her activity level - eg she went for a bike ride this evening before getting ready to go out.
Another bit of good news is that my own efforts to improve our diet and increase exercise are beginning to pay off - so I am setting a better example for her.
I think her prom night coming up in 2 months is a bit of goal to aim for too. We bought her dress a few months ago and she has been trying it on regularly to see that it still fits - but she told me yesterday that it is now too tight in the bust - so I think that is what has prompted her into action today!