Dear Weight Watchers,
I just want to start off by saying that you should be ashamed of yourselves.
What possessed you to target adolescents with your new campaign?
The teenage years are some of the most vulnerable years of a young boy or girl's life.
They're the years full of change and questioning and finding out who you are.
However, with your new advertisement, you're showing them that their weight is what defines them.
Did you know that 95% of individuals with eating disorders develop them between the ages of 12 and 25?
Roughly 50% of teenage girls and 33% of teenage boys will engage in unhealthy behaviors in an attempt to control their weight and YOU are contributing to that.
Instead of instilling the mindset of weight loss contributing to happiness, we should be instilling one of self-love and body appreciation. No one looks the same and one individual isn't going to have the same healthy weight or BMI as another.
That's why we need to show young minds that all bodies of all shapes and sizes are perfect and beautiful. We need to show them that the number on the scale doesn't matter; that it's okay if you grow and change sizes.
You're not instilling "healthy habits" in them like you say. You're training them while they are young that certain foods are "bad foods" and certain foods are "good foods."
Teenagers shouldn't be afraid to eat things such as carbs or sweets. They should be taught that balance is the key to life, to fill their bodies with delicious healthy things, but to also fulfill their cravings.
You may say that the program is altered than that for a typical adult; that there are restrictions in place. However, the problem at hand is not the intensity of the program, but rather, the program itself. Teenagers should be able to go through their metamorphic years without this additional pressure and option.
Most likely, if one teen joins this program, it will skyrocket as a result of peer pressure and pretty soon a multitude of teenagers will be joining Weight Watchers.
These teenagers will become happier and happier when they see the scale go down, but this is not the thing that should be causing them happiness.
But, Weight Watchers, I want you to know that this is not the way to go about teaching kids. This is a way to harm their brains and their relationships with food for the years and decades to come.
Teenagers should be worrying about their calculus homework, not counting calories. They should be worried about what color dress they'll wear to prom, not fitting into a smaller size for it.
They should be worried about applying to colleges, not ruminating on their "cheat meal."
So, Weight Watchers, once again I would like to say — how dare you.
I hope you reconsider this recent campaign decision because it was the worst one you could have made.
Sincerely,
An eating disorder survivor and a promoter of self-love.