Hi, SaucySharon, and thanks so much for getting back to us.
This is a tough, tough situation, isn't it? Your granddaughter is surrounded by people who love her and who want the best for her, and as she struggles with whatever issues brought her to this place, she is also struggling with her weight.
At 5'4 and 195 pounds, your granddaughter's BMI (body mass index) is 33.5. Obesity is described as being a BMI over 30.0, so you are correct in feeling that her weight is a serious issue.
At 17, however, especially since she is dealing with a psychologist, I might let this issue rest if I were you. She has plenty of time to learn how to lose weight healthfully in the next couple of years, and people simply cannot lose weight until they are personally motivated to do what it takes. The fact that her doctor's suggestion that she try Weight Watchers upset her tells me that this is a very emotional issue for her.
I do want to give you some options for her, because I believe that your heart is in the right place and that there may come a time when she desires this information. Be very careful how you give it to her, however. She might subconsciously feel that your love or your good opinion of her is lower because of her weight.
First of all, here's a good, thorough article about helping a teen lose weight. The two programs they recommend are Weight Watchers and TOPS (more about those in a sec):
http://www.4teenweightloss.com/
Weight Watchers is sound and nutritionally balanced, it teaches her about portion control and it allows her to be in control of her choices. If she doesn't want to attend meetings, perhaps she would like knowing that there is an entire Weight Watchers site where you can sign up, use all the Weight Watchers tools, and lose weight on your own. There are also different bulletin boards on the community part of the WW site, including some geared toward younger people.
Here is their home page. At the bottom you can click on "meetings" or on "online:"
http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/index.aspx
and here's a link to their "student lounge" board in community:
OK. Next program. Here's a link to the TOPS program, which is short for Taking Off Pounds Sensibly:
https://www.tops.org/default.aspx
There's a "find a chapter" link in the upper left-hand corner of that page, which will help you see if there's a group in your area. You just put your zip code in and the locations near you will come up. And this page has some of the tools they use, which you can print out:
https://www.tops.org/TOPSTools.aspx
Another option would be Jenny Craig. They have a "Jenny Craig for Teens" program that takes into account the fact that teen bodies are still growing and developing. Here's their page (there are also places you can click on that tells how the program works. This is a program where you buy the food from Jenny Craig, so it is more expensive up front than the others):
What are the mainstays of your granddaughter's diet? It may be that with just a couple of small changes, she can drop a few pounds easily and get encouraged. If she is eating a lot of fast food and/or snacks, more simple carbohydrates (like bread or chips) than protein, and/or a lot of sodas, some minor changes in these areas can make a difference on their own.
I also like Alison's suggestion of a Registered Dietician (RD) who could help your daughter one-on-one. Might this be a possibility?
Here's the American Dietetic Association's "Find a Nutrition Professional" page; it allows you to fill in your city, state and the type of expertise you want (one category is Childhood Obesity), and it brings back results in your area:
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Hi, SaucySharon, and thanks so much for getting back to us.
This is a tough, tough situation, isn't it? Your granddaughter is surrounded by people who love her and who want the best for her, and as she struggles with whatever issues brought her to this place, she is also struggling with her weight.
At 5'4 and 195 pounds, your granddaughter's BMI (body mass index) is 33.5. Obesity is described as being a BMI over 30.0, so you are correct in feeling that her weight is a serious issue.
At 17, however, especially since she is dealing with a psychologist, I might let this issue rest if I were you. She has plenty of time to learn how to lose weight healthfully in the next couple of years, and people simply cannot lose weight until they are personally motivated to do what it takes. The fact that her doctor's suggestion that she try Weight Watchers upset her tells me that this is a very emotional issue for her.
I do want to give you some options for her, because I believe that your heart is in the right place and that there may come a time when she desires this information. Be very careful how you give it to her, however. She might subconsciously feel that your love or your good opinion of her is lower because of her weight.
First of all, here's a good, thorough article about helping a teen lose weight. The two programs they recommend are Weight Watchers and TOPS (more about those in a sec):
http://www.4teenweightloss.com/
Weight Watchers is sound and nutritionally balanced, it teaches her about portion control and it allows her to be in control of her choices. If she doesn't want to attend meetings, perhaps she would like knowing that there is an entire Weight Watchers site where you can sign up, use all the Weight Watchers tools, and lose weight on your own. There are also different bulletin boards on the community part of the WW site, including some geared toward younger people.
Here is their home page. At the bottom you can click on "meetings" or on "online:"
http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/index.aspx
and here's a link to their "student lounge" board in community:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/community/mbd/threads.aspx?board_id=190&board_name=Student%20Lounge&category_name=Similar%20Interests&forum_name=Message%20Boards&forum_id=1
OK. Next program. Here's a link to the TOPS program, which is short for Taking Off Pounds Sensibly:
https://www.tops.org/default.aspx
There's a "find a chapter" link in the upper left-hand corner of that page, which will help you see if there's a group in your area. You just put your zip code in and the locations near you will come up. And this page has some of the tools they use, which you can print out:
https://www.tops.org/TOPSTools.aspx
Another option would be Jenny Craig. They have a "Jenny Craig for Teens" program that takes into account the fact that teen bodies are still growing and developing. Here's their page (there are also places you can click on that tells how the program works. This is a program where you buy the food from Jenny Craig, so it is more expensive up front than the others):
http://www.jennycraig.com/programs/program_options/for_teens
What are the mainstays of your granddaughter's diet? It may be that with just a couple of small changes, she can drop a few pounds easily and get encouraged. If she is eating a lot of fast food and/or snacks, more simple carbohydrates (like bread or chips) than protein, and/or a lot of sodas, some minor changes in these areas can make a difference on their own.
I also like Alison's suggestion of a Registered Dietician (RD) who could help your daughter one-on-one. Might this be a possibility?
Here's the American Dietetic Association's "Find a Nutrition Professional" page; it allows you to fill in your city, state and the type of expertise you want (one category is Childhood Obesity), and it brings back results in your area:
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home_fanp_consumer_ENU_HTML.htm
Does any of this help, do you think?
I am so glad that you have your granddaughter's best interests at heart. She is a lucky girl.
April 17, 2009 - 9:56amThis Comment
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