A Floral Park nutritionist says the new Weight Watchers children's app, called Kurbo, focuses more on weight loss than healthy eating.
The app is targeted to people between 8 years old and 17 years old. More than 85,000 people have signed a petition on Change.org to change the focus of the app.
"The children are losing a lot of weight," says Stephanie di Figlia-Peck, a nutritionist at the Cohen's Children's Medical Center. "There is evidence that shows when you start a child too soon, that you can lead them in the path of an eating disorder."
The app allows children 13 years old or older to create an account without parental consent.
Officials at WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers, said in a statment, "Kurbo is a family-based program, focused on behavior change for healthier eating and more activity, not dieting or calorie-counting. Studies show that behavior-based weight management programs do not cause eating disorders."
The app launched last week.