Weight Watchers offers free memberships to teenagers in effort to combat obesity epidemic Weight Watchers is to offer free memberships to teenagers in an effort to combat obesity among young people. The company, […]

Weight Watchers is to offer free memberships to teenagers in an effort to combat obesity among young people.

The company, which is billed as the world’s leading commercial provider of weight management services, hopes to attract a slew of new, younger, members by waiving its fees for 13- to 17-year-olds over a six week period this summer.

Summer of slimming

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Weight Watchers president and CEO Mindy Grossman announced the “bold” move to offer free memberships for young people at a company event, and predicted the initiative would make the organisation “more relevant than ever”.

“In an effort to make wellness accessible to all and help develop healthy habits at a critical life-stage, we have decided to make the programme free for teens, ” Weight Watchers said in a statement.

“For a six-week period this summer, teens will be able to join Weight Watchers for free.

“We think there’s a real opportunity to make an impact on a problem that is not currently being addressed effectively,” the statement continued.

“We’re very excited about the potential impact this could make on the next generation… and on families as a whole.”

Teenagers who choose to participate in the programme will be required to provide parental consent.

Cost of obesity

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which recommends which treatments should be offered by the NHS published guidance in 2014 stating that GPs should consider referring overweight and obese patients to slimming programmes to help them manage their weight.

The cost of obesity to society was estimated to be almost £16bn in 2007, according to NICE. If obesity levels continue to rise, this figure could balloon to £50bn by 2050.

One third of children aged 11 to 15 are overweight or obese, according to NICE.

Expansion plans

Weight Watchers has also pledged to remove all artificial ingredients from its products and stated its intention to become a $2bn (£1.4bn) company by the end of 2020.

New memberships and improved retention form the basis of the company’s expansion plans.

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