Some Weight Watchers loyalists applaud Kurbo by WW. But nutritionists worry Kurbo promotes an unhealthy relationship with food during an especially impressionable time.
Weight Watchers, which now calls itself WW, this week introduced a new app called Kurbo by WW to "help kids and teens ages 8-17 reach a healthier weight." WW last year acquired Kurbo, a digital health start-up whose system is based on Stanford University's pediatric obesity program.
Some WW loyalists applaud the move, saying the company has transformed their lives and hope it can transform children's lives, too. But nutritionists worry Kurbo promotes an unhealthy relationship with food during an especially impressionable time. "Kids who are overweight know they're overweight and already feel bad about it," Langer said. "Giving this app to a kid is like saying there's something wrong with you."
Foster dismisses the idea that Kurbo is a diet, which he defines as a program like keto or paleo that labels certain foods as bad and encourages people to avoid them. Diets, he said, lead to short-term behavior change, whereas WW focuses on establishing healthy patterns. About 13.7 million of U.S. children and adolescents — or nearly one-fifth — are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC defines obesity as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for a child's gender and age group. A ten-year-old boy who weighs 102 pounds at 4 feet 8 inches tall would be considered obese.
Kurbo's website features "success stories" showing before-and-after images, as well as how many pounds users lost. Foster said the WW team heard from parents and adolescents who wanted to see pictures of kids "who have been successful." He said the photos are intended to be "inspirational." Some disagree.
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