Joanna Fortune: My teenage daughter is obsessed with her fitness tracker

If she begins skipping meals or pursuing calorie deficits to lose weight, I would strongly advise seeking professional intervention

When wellbeing becomes a fixation, the results are counterproductive. Picture: iStock 

My teenage daughter got a fitness tracker as a birthday gift, and watching her stats has become an obsession. She was already fit, but she is now competing against herself and others in her online group. She’s lost weight and is stricter about her diet; she keeps asking for lean protein, essentially chicken. I’m not sure how best to handle what’s happening.

As our children grow, we need to encourage self-regulation and trust in how they feel in their own bodies. Wearing a fitness tracker may actually work against their awareness of their body’s signals by relying on a device to tell them how they are progressing.

An over-reliance on trackers can trigger obsessional vigilance, reducing our bodies to numbers, such as the number of steps achieved and the calories consumed versus burned. Anxiety can easily result when the daily goals the device has set are not met.

Often, the goals are unrealistic for a teenager — for example, if their fitness group is made up of people with a broader age range or the device is intended for adult use only.

The developing teenage brain is hardwired for reward-oriented behaviour, which can manifest as impulsivity or thrill-seeking. These cognitive changes can also see them motivated by challenge.

There are pros to participation in team sports or activities that nurture mastery over tension, but also a susceptibility to competitiveness, pushing too hard and keeping the level of challenge raised, which can be damaging.

Teenagers are also more drawn to how they imagine others perceive them and can be dismissive of parental observations, concerns, or advice.

I wonder if your daughter is part of a fitness community and whether a coach could sit with her to review the goals she has set for herself, with a view to making them more balanced and healthy. It might be easier for her to take this advice from someone other than her parent.

When wellbeing becomes a fixation, the results are counterproductive. Perhaps you could ask your daughter to go for a walk or a drive with you, so you can share your concerns in a way that does not judge her.

Start by reflecting on how consistently she works toward her fitness goals and how motivated she is. Talk about balance and moving for joy and pleasure.

An example would be participation in team activities: dancing (even at home) to a favourite song; playing games that incorporate movement (skipping, hopscotch, tag); or a daily talk-walk (set an active pace, ensuring you can both talk without becoming breathless), where you both can chat about life in general, and your hopes, dreams, etc. These kinds of movement-based activities promote connection and co-regulation.

If you continue to be worried about her apparent obsessional thinking, or if she begins skipping meals or pursuing calorie deficits to lose weight, or if she were to start prioritising her need to exercise over other daily activities or time with friends or family, I would strongly advise seeking professional intervention with a suitably qualified adolescent mental-health professional.

If you have a question for child psychotherapist Dr Joanna Fortune, please send it to [e-mail]