Overweight Teen Girls and Their Moms Say, ‘Help.’
Professionals from the entertainment industry have teamed with leaders in obesity treatment to create the first web destinations that offer affordable and accessible weight management support to overweight teen girls and their mothers. By combining social media with fashion, food, exercise and fun, Fitsmi helps teen girls make healthy behavioral changes and improve their self-esteem. Fitsmi for Moms gives mothers of overweight teens the advice and support they need to help their daughters. These new services are debuting at The Obesity Society annual meeting in Washington, DC.
According to the Center for Disease Control, 40% of the 12 million teen girls in the US are obese or overweight. As these numbers continue to climb, it is clear that girls dealing with the physical and emotional challenges of being overweight have few affordable and accessible places to get effective sustainable help.
Fitsmi reaches girls online where they’re comfortable, leveraging social media and creating a safe community with a wide range of features, from help with fashion and shopping to support from peers and advice from professionals. To keep teen girls interested and engaged, Fitsmi’s content is infused with attitude, style and humor. Fitsmi offers teens a small-step approach to behavioral changes that are simple to use. It does not force a teen into a rigid, unsustainable diet plan but gives her the flexibility to choose and track a set of effective behavioral changes that work best for her.
Fitsmi also offers a companion site for mothers who need support from experts and other mothers who have been there. Fitsmi for Moms includes: expert advice, coaching skills, professional counseling and connection with other parents to help moms successfully support their daughters and to help turn a potentially difficult parenting situation into a positive mother/daughter team effort.
Fitsmi can be used in many ways. It is designed for use by teens and moms who do not have professional help. It can be a resource for pediatricians and GP’s who don’t have affordable programs to offer their overweight patients. Fitsmi can also be customized to fit a clinician’s own treatment approach. Additionally, Fitsmi will be offered to corporate wellness programs and through school based health initiatives.
For more information, visit fitsmi.com.