Teens' dance aerobics

Teens often lose weight against heavy odds. Their experiences challenge conventional assumptions about teen weight loss and the role parents play in it.

Misconception: Teens who come from an overweight family have little hope of losing weight and keeping it off.
Facts: Sixty of the 70 teens who answered the question whether anyone else in their family was overweight said that at least one parent was. 23 of them said that both parents were overweight. Nicole S is typical. Her mom and dad are overweight. She decided to lose weight at 16, when she weighed 293. Although her family didn’t think she would do it, they encouraged her to try. Three years later Nicole weighs 145 (she’s 5′5″).

Misconception: Teens who have been overweight since they were young are unlikely to be able to lose weight and keep it off.
Facts: Many of the teens said that they first becase overweight when they were quite young – more than half said it was at age 10 or younger. The average age they reported becoming overweight was nine had a half. 15 year old Sandra D told, “I’d always been overweight, even when I was little, and I didn’t want to stay that way.” Part of her motivation for losing more than 50 pounds was that she was tired of being compared to her nonidentical twin sister, who never had a weight problem. “Now,” Sandra says, “we’ve both grown – and shrunk – to develop a relationship based on who we are instead of on the physical differences that separated us in the past.”

Misconception: Teen who have tried and failed at losing weight many times before don’t succeed.
Facts: Although it certainly isn’t physically or physchologically healthy for any teen to go on and off diets repeatedly, the teens provide hope for those who have tried and failed at weight management. When I asked many times they tried to lose weight before they finally succeeded (counting only the times when they lost at least 5 to 10 pounds), 7 out of 10 indicated that they’d lost and gained multiple times. Forty of them had tried to lose weight three or more times in the past. Sandra D, says, “There were so many times when I felt like trying was pointless but I finally did it. And if I could do it, then anyone can.” Wes G says, “It took me many tries until I really wanted to lose the weight for myself enough to succeed.” Kelly D, who tried to lose weight 3 or 4 time before succeeding, says that teens need to do some experimenting. “Keep trying new things until you find something that works,” she advises.

Misconception: It’s best to avoid talking about dieting and weight loss with overweight teens because it’s likely to trigger an eating disorder such as bullmia or anorexia nervosa.
Facts: The vast majority of teens losing weight are living proof that overweight young people can lose weight without developing such an eating disorder. Some studies do suggest that teens who say they diet regularly may be at higher risk for eating disorders than nondieters, particularly when they use restrictive and unhealthy dieting methods. That’s why teens need to be educated about how to lose weight in healthy ways and to be shown healthy role models. In fact, Kerri Boutelle, PhD, a weight and eating disorders expert at the University of Minnesota, states, “Several studies actually suggest that teaching teens healthful methods to control their weight may reduce weight concerns and the risk of subsequent eating disorders.”

The truth is, far more teens in our society are overweight than have eating disorders. For instance, the eating disorders bulimia and anorexia nervosa affect no more than 4 to 5 percent of teens. Yet more than 1/3rd (34 percent) of 12 to 19 year olds in the US are overweight or at risk for being overweight, according to a 2006 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. James Anderson, MD, a weight expert at the University of Kentucky who works with teens, sums up the situation this way: “The risk of inducing eating disorders in overweight teens is very low, and the risk from their untreated obesity is much higher.”

Misconception: Teens don’t want help from their parents in managing their weight.
Facts: When I asked the teens what role their families played in their weight management efforts, a strong majority indicated that their families helped them. (Only five teens indicated that their families got in the way.) Both the teens and their parents emphasized that it’s important to let it be the teen’s decision to slim down if and when he or she is ready. But that doesn’t mean kids don’t want help and support from their families in their weight management efforts. When John W was losing 75 pounds, he says, his “family was always supportive and willing to give advice. Now they make healthier meals for the whole family.”

Misconception: Teens who say they’re “on a diet” invariably have unhealthy eating habits.
Facts: Of the teens who said they went on a diet, only some used the word as most people think of it – that is, they actually followed some sort of food plan to help them cut back on calories so they could lose weight. Few said that they followed restrictive diets, and two of those who did went to comprehensive medically supervised programs. When asked to detail their “diets,” a good number of teens simply described a healthful way of eating. Aaron T describes his diet this way: “Having smaller portions, eating the ‘right’ foods, eating more whole-grain foods, and balancing out what I ate – with the help of a nutritionist.” Mia R says, “I just stopped eating so much and so frequently. I also incorporated more fruits and vegetables in my diet.”

Similarly, University of Minnesota researchers Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph D, RD, and Mary Story, Ph D, RD, who ran discussion groups with more than 200 seventh through twelfth graders to see how they defined “dieting,” learned that more often than not, teens mentioned healthful behaviors when talking about dieting – making comments about things such as eating less fat, more fruits and vegetables, less junk food, and fewer greasy foods. Another University of Minnesota report, on the dieting habits of more than 16000 teens suggested the same thing for teens who had tried to lose weight using nonextreme measures.

It’s the teens who go to extremes with dieting who are at risk for having poor diets and health problems. In yet another study, Dr Neumark-Sztainer and her coworkers found that teen dieters who used unhealthy strategies such as fasting, skipping meals, smoking cigarettes, and vomitting consumed less of some important vitamins and minerals than did teens who used healthy weight control techniques such as eating fewer sweets, more fruits and vegetables, and fewer high-fat foods. Teen weight expert Thomas Robinson, MD, of Stanford University says, “I have no problem when teens lower their calorie intake by following a healthy, balanced diet. The goal is to lose weight without compromising nutrition.”

Misconception: To lose weight and keep it off, teens need to give up desserts and fatty foods.
Facts: The teens talked repeatedly about the importance of not depriving themselves. Many indicated that they eat foods such as ice cream, chocolate, and pizza at least once a week. McKenzie K says, “If you cut everything out, you’ll go crazy.”

Misconception: The methods that adults use to lose weight are inappropriate for teens.
Facts: A number of experts say that overweight teens shouldn’t count fat grams and calories, keep food records, or “work out” the way an adult might, because these things might lead to an unhealthy obsession with weight and food. However, these are the very strategies many of the teens I interviewed used to reach a healthy weight. They don’t seem to be obsessed in an unhealthy way. In fact, virtually all of them stressed that the quality of their lives is far better since they slimmed down.

Misconception: Overweight teens shouldn’t go on diets because they will just gain the weight back.
Facts: Some of the teens I interviewed in weight loss programs in which they were placed on “diets” to help them eat less – and they’ve kept the weight off. Moreover, those who lost weight this way recognize that it’s crucial to get rid of the “diet mentality.” They’ve shifted from the idea of doing something temporarily to accepting that they have to continue doing many of the things they did to lose weight if they want to keep it off. Katie S says that she loosely followed a popular diet when she started losing 94 pounds. Today, however, she says, “when people ask me if I went on a diet, I say, ‘No, I changed my lifestyle. This is forever. I will never go back to how I used to eat.’” Likewise, Xavier L, who went to Weight Watchers and followed its Points system, whch some would consider a diet, advises, “You must change your lifestyle. This is a lifelong process. It isn’t about a day, a week, or a month.”

It’s true that some studies suggest that teens who report going on a lot of diets are heavier than nondieters, but it’s hard to know if they really were dieting – that is, if they actually ate few enough calories to lose weight. Eric Stice, PhD, a University of Texas researcher who studies teens and dieting, concludes, “I don’t think that dieting causes weight gain. On the contrary, I think that effective dieting results in weight loss – and not many dieters cut back on calories long enough to actually lose weight.” He adds, “We need to help teens diet effectively and in healthy ways as well as to make changes in food and activity that are not just temporary.”