DIETING YOUNG MAY LEAD TO POOR HEALTH OUTCOMES LATER
Research to be
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive
Behavior (SSIB) finds that the younger a woman is when she goes on her first
diet, the more likely she is to experience several negative health outcomes
later in life.
Dieting is very common
among girls and young women; however, people often fail to consider the
long-term consequences of weight-loss diets, particularly in those who begin
dieting at a young age. A team led by Dr. Pamela Keel from Florida State
University asked college women in 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012 to report their
dieting and weight history. The team then followed women 10-years later and
examined the impact of dieting history on long-term health outcomes.
The younger a woman
was when she started her first diet, the more likely she was to use extreme
weight control behaviors like self-induced vomiting, misuse alcohol, and be
overweight or obese when she reached her 30's.
While the cause of
these outcomes is not determined here, discouraging weight loss diets in young
girls may reduce risk for eating, alcohol, and weight-related problems in
adulthood. Public health initiatives should promote behaviors that increase
wellness in girls, such as increasing activity, decreasing leisure time
watching TV and on computers, and consuming more fruits and vegetables. Such
interventions may need to begin as early as elementary school to support girls
as they enter puberty, a time when their bodies will naturally experience rapid
growth, weight gain, and an increase in body fat.
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