My overweight teenage daughter eats too much junk food, what shall I do?
My 13-year-old daughter is overweight, and she buys a lot of junk food with her own money. How can I convince her that buying this food isn't good for her, especially when we're bombarded with advertising for it?
Dr Emma Boyland, a lecturer for Liverpool University's Appetite & Obesity Research Group, says: "It's a real challenge for parents to get healthy eating messages across, particularly in the current food environment, where unhealthy foods are constantly available and aggressively marketed to young people.
"Parents must be careful to avoid stigmatising obesity or generating anxiety over body image, especially in young women, so they should try to focus on health (including dental health) and fitness rather than weight per se.
"At 13, your daughter will be starting to gain an adult understanding of what food marketing is, so discuss this with her and encourage her to be a critical viewer of advertising - emphasise that advertisers want to sell her something, that they'll withhold negative information about products and put forward a positive spin to persuade her. Does she think that's fair?
"Ask her how she feels after she's eaten unhealthy food - does she feel tired, lethargic, unsatisfied? Try to encourage her to ditch the junk for a week, eat more fruit and vegetables, drink more water, and see whether she feels better and has more energy.
"This could be something you could do together - parents are role models and eating healthily as a family is the best way to instil these habits in children."
More of your questions answered
