Missing the point

Student calls on Oregon School District to end calorie tracking assignment

The assignment has Oregon Middle School students track their eating habits using a smartphone app to analyze their nutritional intake and reflect on any dietary changes they might consider as part of an eighth-grade health class,

...

it was a “dreadful” experience, because she was already suffering from depression and anxiety before doing the assignment.

“Young people do not need more reason to feel that their bodies are inadequate,” Becker, 15, wrote in her petition. “This assignment is a breeding ground for low self-esteem students to develop unhealthy relationships with food.”

Over 400 signatures are on the petition.

“We never want a young person to feel uncomfortable with a piece of our curriculum in school,” Superintendent Busler said. “We’re very proud of the fact she brought this up, she took an advocacy stance.”

According to the report, the student kept using the app after the assignment ended, and "started to obsess over what she was eating and the number of calories she was consuming."

Perhaps the teacher did not make clear that there is no one-size-fits-all for diet, and explain properly the use of such logging. From the photo, Becker is not obese--the app should have encouraged her that she was just fine. Maybe the teacher didn't get it across, or maybe Becker isn't able to listen on this topic.

Or maybe the app is incompetently designed. Designing an algorithm for teens isn't easy--what with growth spurts and slowdowns, medication interactions, etc. Adults would be easier: "fine", "probably fine", "you can't keep this up for too long", "butter would be good for you."