Trading Health for a Healthy Weight: The Uncharted Side of Healthy Weights Initiatives

Abstract

Healthy eating and weight initiatives have been incorporated into many schools to combat the growing obesity problem. There is little research, however, on the effectiveness of these programs or any inadvertent harmful effects on children's mental health. Our aims were to report on how school-based healthy weights initiatives can trigger the adoption of unhealthy behaviours for some children. This is a case series of four children seen at specialized eating disorder clinics. Each child attributed eating pattern changes to information garnered from school-based healthy eating curricula. Unanticipated consequences of these initiatives are described and alternative approaches are discussed.