This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
For teenagers, losing weight and getting healthier can be rough going.
But adolescents who manage to slim down share something in common, according to researchers at Brigham Young University: They do it slowly — at a rate of about a pound per week — and do it mostly for their own sake, not solely to impress peers or parents.
Teens' weight-loss motivations are "more intrinsic" than adults may think, says lead author and psychologist Chad Jensen in a report appearing Tuesday in the journal Childhood Obesity.
The message for parents, he says, is to avoid comparing their own teen's body to those of others.
"One implication is that parents should help to focus their teen on healthy behaviors for the sake of being healthy, more than for social acceptance," Jensen said in a prepared statement.
Starting in 2011, Jensen and others considered 40 formerly obese or overweight teens who had lost an average of about 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year. Almost every teen in the study said it was his or her own decision to shed the extra weight and reported they had shed about a pound a week. Parents, the teens reported, helped them the most by modeling healthy behaviors and buying fresher meals and snacks.
A little less than two out of three teens said health was their first priority. About 43 percent said "peer acceptance" factored in.
Researchers also reported higher rates of weight loss during transition periods, including when a teen started high school or college.
"It's sort of an opportunity to re-make yourself," Jensen said.
He warns that getting fit and healthy isn't as easy as Hollywood may suggest. Shows like The Biggest Loser can set unrealistic expectations, showcasing what appear to be instant results.
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