Teen dieting leads to weight gain

Teens attempting to lose weight are more likely to skip breakfast and binge eat, which may explain why these teens are also more likely to gain weight according to a new study from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Most teens choose short-term dieting strategies, such as fasting, smoking, and skipping meals over more effective long-term strategies, such as greater veggie and fruit consumption along with more exercise.

The study interviewed 2,516 teens in 1999 at which time 56% of girls and 35% of boys reporting that they had dieted at least once. Follow up five years later revealed that female dieters were more likely to skip breakfast and binge eat, as well as gain 0.69 more body mass index (BMI) than those who did not diet. Male dieters were more likely to binge eat, to be less physically active and subsequently found to have gained 0.77 more BMI than boys who reported that they did not diet.

Our appetite for short term fixes, celebrity crash diets, diet pills, miracle cures and the like is obviously fueling these poor eating habits. Add to this the high-calorie junk food that is served in most school cafeterias and most students are doomed to gain weight. I remember growing up on public school lunch in NYC, when ketchup was considered part of the “vegetable food group” that went along with the “mystery meat” burger. I believe that poor eating habits developed at a young age are very difficult to correct. Unless and until healthy eating and lifestyle habits are developed in the home and at school, this obesity epidemic will never be effectively addressed.

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