Weight Watchers just launched a new app, called Kurbo by WW, targeted to kids. The app's intention is to change children's behaviors around food choices. The app, rather than their intuitive hunger, satiety, and satisfaction cues, directs their choices.

The app "green lights" some foods, while it "red lights" others, perpetuating the myth that some foods are good and some foods are bad. It also magnifies the stigmatization of larger bodies, creating fear in children at a young age. Children can easily internalize the message that if they do not eat and look a certain way, they are not good. (That is right, they don't just think their behavior is bad, they think they are bad altogether.)

This fear, stigma, and food restriction and control directly contribute to the development of disordered eating and eating disorders, weight cycling (which is harmful to the body), and poor self-esteem and body-image

As an adult in recovery from an eating disorder, it is clear to me that this app is dangerous. It is unfathomable that WW is marketing it to kids. The app will undoubtedly create long-term mental and physical health problems.

Join BodyCompassionBlog.com in demanding that WW remove their dangerous weight-loss app for children.