Unhealthy Dieting Linked To Frequent Weighing

A recent study of Minnesota students showed that teenage girls who weigh themselves frequently are more likely to turn to dieting measures that are unhealthy while some gain up to twice as much weight. According to the study done by the University of Minnesota, girls who weigh themselves often are more likely to use diet pills, use laxatives, skip meals, smoke, binge and vomit in an effort to lose weight.

The study surveyed 2,516 Minnesota junior high and high school kids both boys and girls during the 1998 and 1999 school year and then did a follow up study in 2003 and 2004. The study is now going to be published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The first part of the study shows that ten percent of girls agreed with the statement that they weight themselves often.

During the follow up questions ninety-two percent of the girls said they had used some kind of weight control behavior that was unhealthy which was in contrast to the sixty-eight percent of girls who disagreed with the earlier question of weighing themselves often.

The unhealthy behavior could include skipping meals occasionally. Although thirty-eight percent of the girls admitted they used extreme weight loss techniques. All the percentages of those participating in unhealthy dieting was higher for the girls that weighed themselves often compared to those who didn't.

Over five years the girls who weighed themselves often gained an average of 33.3 pounds compared with the girls who didn't weigh themselves frequently who gained an average of 18.6 pounds. Doctors suggested that the results show the underlying weight concern of the girls.

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