AI-Generated Meal Plans For Dieting Teens Could Be Harmful, Study Warns

Key TakeawaysAI-generated meal plans might be harmful for teens trying to lose weightAI tends to craft meal plans that are 700 calories below teens’ needs – the equivalent of skipping a meal each dayIt also overestimates the protein and fats a teen needs, while underestimating carbs.FRIDAY, March 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Many teens are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to help them lose weight by crafting meal plans for dieting.But a new study warns that those plans are more likely to lead to malnutrition and eating disorders rather than healthy weight loss.Researchers found that AI-generated meal plans tend to underestimate the necessary nutrients and calorie intake that a teenager requires for healthy growth, according to results published March 11 in Frontiers in Nutrition.In fact, the AI meal plans urged calorie cuts that essentially amounted to skipping one full meal a day, results showed.“We show that diet plans generated by AI models tend to substantially underestimate total energy and key nutrient intake when compared to guideline-based plans prepared by a dietitian,” said lead researcher Ayşe Betül Bilen, an assistant professor of health sciences at Istanbul Atlas University in Turkey.“Following such unbalanced or overly restrictive meal plans during the teenage years may negatively affect growth, metabolic health and eating behaviors,” Bilen said in a news release.For the study, researchers asked five free online AI models to create meal plans — ChatGPT 4, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Bing Chat-5GPT, Claude 4.1, and Perplexity.The team provided the age, height and weight of four hypothetical 15-year-olds – an overweight boy and girl and an obese boy and girl – and asked the AI to create a plan for three days. Each day would include three meals and two snacks.Researchers also asked a dietitian specializing in adolescent health to generate meal plans using the same guidelines.Results showed that AI models estimated teens’ energy requirements almost 700 calories lower than the dietitian did – the equivalent of a full meal.The difference is large enough to have a potentially serious effect on a teen’s health, researchers said.AI programs also tended to overcalculate the amount of protein and fats that teens need in their meals, while undercalculating the amount of carbohydrates, the study found.AI-generated meal plans had up to 21% to 24% of energy intake coming from protein, 41% to 45% from fats, and 32% to 36% from carbs, researchers said.By comparison, U.S. guidelines recommend that 15% to 20% of calories should come from protein, 30% to 35% from fats, and 45% to 50% from carbs.These sorts of meal plans could affect a teen’s health and potentially lead to an eating disorder, researchers warned.“Adolescence is a critical period for physical growth, bone development and cognitive maturation,” Bilen said. “Lower energy and carbohydrate intake, combined with increased protein and fat ratios, may pose risks during the adolescent growth period.”In crafting meal plans, AI tools don’t appear to be referencing online guidelines on healthy nutrition presented by reputable organizations, researchers said.“AI models are primarily trained to generate responses that appear plausible and user-friendly rather than clinically precise,” Bilen said. “Our findings suggest they may rely on generalized or popular diet patterns instead of fully integrating age-specific nutritional requirements.”Anyone using AI to make diet plans should be cautious, researchers warned.“AI-generated diet plans consistently deviated from the recommended macronutrient balance, which is particularly problematic for adolescents,” Bilen said.More informationThe American Academy of Pediatricians has more on a teenager’s nutritional needs.SOURCE: Frontiers, news release, March 12, 2026 .What This Means For YouTeenagers should talk to their doctor or rely on other reputable sources for diet information, rather than turning to AI..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

AI-Generated Meal Plans For Dieting Teens Could Be Harmful, Study Warns

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