Teens using AI meal plans could be eating too few calories — equivalent to skipping a meal

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Beep@lemmus.org⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/03/12/teens-ai-meal-plans-too-few-calories-frontiers-in-nutrition

Can AI tools make meal plans that help us lose weight the right way? In a new study, a team of researchers compared AI’s meal planning abilities to those of a dietician. The results showed that AI-made meal plans – when compared to dietician plans – severely undercalculated the needed amount of calories and macronutrients like carbs and overemphasized other macronutrients like proteins and lipids. The team cautioned that teens should not solely rely on AI to make meal plans for weight loss, saying that the consistent deviation of five different AI models from nutritional guidelines recommended by health organizations could have negative effects on growing bodies.

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paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I wonder how much of this comes from dieting nonsense on Reddit and blogs.

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- org@lemmy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Well, since over 40% of the world is considered overweight … maybe we should have fewer calories.
  
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  - socphoenix@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Losing weight too fast can destroy your organs, so this is a very stupid take.
    
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  - Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    its actually biologically dangerous to lose a lot of weight at once if you way hundreds of lbs over your limit. its the same for pet dogs and cats.
    
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  - CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I’ve been thinking about this lately in regards to how shitty food is getting, with shrinkflation a lot of stuff now has smaller portions sizes but the calorie count usually remains the same, presumably due to adding more sugar to mask the taste of replacing ingrediants with cheaper alternatives, fresh produce isn’t spared either as most meat and vegetables turn a lot sooner and are sometimes already beginning to turn the same day you buy them. The result is a decreasing ability to have more than a day or twos worth of fresh ingrediants on hand and frozen food (or worse) just getting simultaniously less health and less filling.
    
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  - webghost0101@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    If that 60% of people who aren’t weren’t occupied with working hard not to starve they might take offense to your use of “we” (Satire)
    
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- Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  intermittent fasting seems to the current trend, considering how body image/gym obssesed people are on reddit subs. gym will ban you for even mentioning "peds’ in any form, they dont want get called out for cheating and using shortcuts for thier weight loss.
  
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Iconoclast@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

undercalculated the needed amount of calories and macronutrients like carbs

What’s the needed amount of carbs? Proteins and fats are essential nutrients. Carbohydrates are not.

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- XLE@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Just realized you’re the same person who was doing a weird defense of AI companies generating CSAM and revenge porn the other day… Now you’re taking AI’s side by Just Asking Questions about nutrition.
  
  Do you actually have an issue with the article, or is this just a knee-jerk defense of the companies?
  
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- PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Carbohydrates are required to break down proteins and fats. They’re very much an essential nutrient, just not in the quantities the old food pyramid would have you believe.
  
  If carbs weren’t essential, a pure protein and fat diet wouldn’t outright kill you from kidney failure.
  
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  - xep@discuss.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re confidently incorrect. You don’t need to eat carbohydrates to break down fat and protein, and a diet consisting of healthy proteins and fat will not cause kidney failure.
    
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  - Iconoclast@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Your body can synthesize all the carbohydrates it needs through gluconeogenesis. There are no “essential carbs” the way there are essential fatty acids and amino acids. You can absolutely live on a diet of just fats and protein - and plenty of people do. The Inuit mostly did, and so do folks on carnivore diets today.
    
    It might not be the healthiest long-term option, but it won’t kill you from a lack of carbs.
    
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sturmblast@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
… this is a fake problem

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TheTempest@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If they live in America skipping meals here and there might not be a bad thing tbh

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peacefulpixel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
i mean there’s a lot to be said about using GenAI period, even more to be said about this specific usecase of it. but also, is that not the point of diets? if they aren’t strictly medical it’s just an eating disorder. people who starve themselves to be skinnier are also going “well i think you should at least try to be healthy.” u can demonise whatever trendy collection of molecules makes u fat this month all u want, spending so much energy on how much body fat you have isn’t healthy at all.

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deathbird@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

Can AI tools make meal plans that help us lose weight the right way?

No. Don’t use it for that.

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