Dieting may produce weight gains in youths

Research suggests physicians have to be careful about weight-control recommendations for young patients.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Nov. 10, 2003.

Repeated dieting by children and adolescents may lead to weight gain rather than loss, according to a study in the October Pediatrics. The study also found more than a quarter of girls and more than 15% of boys reported dieting at least periodically.

"It's important for clinicians to realize that many adolescent and pre-adolescent patients will be dieting, and it may not be warranted, so it's probably a good discussion to have with the patient about healthy and unhealthy nutrition and ways to control their weight," said Alison E. Field, ScD, lead author and assistant professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Field and her co-authors surveyed children whose parents were participants in the Nurses Health Study II. More than 15,000 9- to 14-year-olds completed two annual questionnaires over a three-year period, answering questions about food intake, binge eating, and body mass index. Dieting was associated with weight gain, whether the child was overweight or not.

The study adds to the growing body of literature suggesting that dieting may not be healthy for children. Researchers commented that this does not indicate that medically supervised diets for children who are overweight or obese are inappropriate. Rather the study's message is that calorie restriction without medical supervision for children who are of normal weight or slightly above it may not be the healthiest idea.