Researchers
link extreme dieting behaviors with higher risk for substance use
and suicide attempts
Teenagers who
use extreme methods like diet pills or vomiting to control their weight
are also more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, use marijuana, and attempt
suicide, according to an article in the January/February issue of
the American Journal of Health Behavior. The American study evaluated
data from over 4,000 teenagers that had been collected in 1999 for
a major risk behavior survey. The
teenagers who met the criteria for extreme dieting made up 19.2
percent of the 4,187 girls and boys in the survey database. An additional
43.2 percent were moderate dieters, defined as youth who ate less
and exercised more to control their weight. Researchers found that
moderate dieters were less likely to report that they had smoked
cigarettes or used marijuana than the extreme dieters.
Although there were some notable differences
in dieting methods between genders and among different ethnic groups
and races, the authors noted that the "high prevalence rates
of extreme weight-control methods across all gender-race categories
are a concern."
Because previous studies had suggested that
dieting may be "part of a constellation of unhealthy problem
behaviors in adolescents," the researchers developed the current
study to assess whether all dieting methods, or just extreme ones,
were associated with risky behaviors such as smoking or drinking,
or negative outcomes such as suicide attempts.
Although rates of drug and alcohol use, smoking and suicide were
higher among extreme dieters, their risky behaviors did not extend
to all categories, according to the researchers. For example, extreme
dieters did not have more unprotected sex more frequently than moderate
dieters or non-dieters.
The highest rates of extreme and moderate
dieting were found among white girls in the study, but the researchers
cautioned that boys should not be ignored in weight-control and
risk behavior studies.
"Men are increasingly becoming
dissatisfied with their body image," Rafiroiu said.
|