Online weight management support for overweight teen girls and mothers

Oct 28 2009

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 (www.fitsmi.com) helps teen girls make healthy behavioral changes and improve their self-esteem. Fitsmi for Moms (fitsmi.com/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.

"After listening to many teens and their moms talk about the help they wish they had, our team created a destination that treats an overweight teen girl first as a teenager and helps her feel better about herself in a world that makes being overweight an emotionally painful experience. It's designed to help a teen girl feel connected, supported, motivated and inspired to make healthy changes," says Fitsmi's founder and CEO Linda Frankenbach, who herself was a teen who struggled with her weight. "Teen girls are the mothers of tomorrow and it is so important they learn what to do to be healthy. In doing so, they will be better equipped to help their future families stay healthy."

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.

Fitsmi is included in the healthcare database of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. This database is provided as a resource to clinicians and others.

"Fitsmi answers a crucial need of all adolescent weight management programs -- a way to keep girls motivated and on track after they leave a program," says Barbara Snyder, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Chief of Adolescent Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "Fitsmi is the first program I have seen that really addresses the whole girl. And I usually don't use this term, but fitsmi.com is 'cool'."

Fitsmi's Scientific Board of Advisors, comprised of leaders in the research and treatment of obesity have been instrumental in creating Fitsmi's holistic approach and are actively involved in helping Fitsmi roll out to clinicians and teens across the country. The response to Fitsmi from medical professionals working on obesity has been overwhelmingly supportive.

The early responses to Fitsmi from its closed beta teen users have also been very positive. A Fitsmi member, age 17 said, "I really like the concept of the site. It has helped me in many ways already, and changed my tactics on 'becoming skinny' (which I'm starting to consider calling it, becoming healthy, which is my main goal, really). I find that the site is really inviting, it's being realistic, and could really help a lot of teens, tweens, and even young adults."