Weighty matters: diet pill use soars among teenage girls at Her Active Life

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Weighty matters: diet pill use soars among teenage girls

Posted June 27, 2007 at 10:30 AM by Bridget Sullivan

Section: Her Fitness, Her Health, Body Image, Eating Disorders, Her Nutrition, Her News

girl-on-scale It’s no secret that we live in a body-obsessed, Barbie-worshiping, diet crazed society. Every time you flip on the TV, you see an ad for a new diet product boasting “cutting edge” research; every time you browse the magazine aisle, you see perfectly proportioned, statuesque goddesses gracing the covers (never mind that they are completely air-brushed); every time you go to the grocery store, you see rows of “fat free,” “diet,” and “low fat” foods staring back at you, reminding you that you must lose 10 pounds.

I once heard an insightful remark from a body image expert; she highlighted the fact that the first three letters in the word “diet” spell D-I-E. And then she asserted that perpetual “diets” lead to a perpetual cycle where the question doesn’t become, “how many pounds have you lost?” (and then ultimately recycled), but “has your diet ‘died yet’?” It’s no wonder, though, given the fact that the dieting industry rakes in over 40 billion dollars per year, that teenage girls are getting swept into the diet craze. In fact, a study released just before the new year revealed that teenage girls’ use of diet pills doubled over a 5 year span.

The study results come from a project started at the University of Minnesota to investigate the eating habits of teens: Project EAT (Eating Among Teens). Researchers with Project EAT followed 2,500 teenage girls and 2,500 teenage boys over a 5 year period. During that time, diet pill use among high school females soared from 7.5 percent to 14.2 percent. By the ages of 19 and 20, twenty percent of females surveyed had consumed diet pills.

Equally disturbing, the study found that 62.7 percent of teenage females resorted to “unhealthy weight control behaviors,” while 21.9 percent used ”very unhealthy weight control behaviors.” “Very unhealthy” behaviors were defined as vomiting, skipping meals, and using diet pills. (Of the 2,500 teenage males studied, their rates were half that of the females).

And yet, the study underscores one of the biggest problems with dieting: teenage females who diet and use unhealthy weight control behaviors are at 3x the risk of being overweight. Not surprisingly, teens who feel good about their bodies eat better and have less risk of being overweight. Of course, parents play a crucial role when it comes to counteracting a powerful diet industry and boosting both their daughter’s self-esteem and her relationship to her body.

This news comes in the midst of increasing attention to the fact that childhood obesity - and obesity in general - have grown to epidemic proportions. At the same time that physical education programs are being cut across the United States, the average physical activity levels of teenage females decreases to 3.9 hours per week. It seems like a national push for funding for physical education programs and sports programs would not only benefit children struggling with obesity, but teenage girls trying to feel better about their bodies.

There is something to be said for inhaling a dose of fresh air . . . for relying on our naturally induced endorphins to make us feel positive about our bodies!

Project EAT was designed to investigate the factors influencing eating habits of adolescents, to determine if youth are meeting national dietary recommendations, and to explore dieting and physical activity patterns among youth. Through a greater understanding of the socioeconomic, personal, and behavioral factors associated with diet and weight-related behavior during adolescence more effective nutrition interventions can be developed.

For more on Project EAT visit their website: www.epi.umn.edu/research/eat/