Dieting at a young age can ruin your health

The younger a woman is when she goes on her first diet, the more likely she is to experience several negative health outcomes later in life, a new study has warned.

A team led by Dr Pamela Keel from Florida State University asked college women in 1982, 1992, 2002 and 2012 to report their dieting and weight history.

The team then followed women 10-years later and examined the impact of dieting history on long-term health outcomes.

The younger a woman was when she started her first diet, the more likely she was to use extreme weight control behaviours like self-induced vomiting, misuse alcohol, and be overweight or obese when she reached her 30s.

While the cause of these outcomes is not determined here, discouraging WEIGHT LOSS DIETS in young girls may reduce risk for eating, alcohol, and weight-related problems in adulthood, researchers said.

Public health initiatives should promote behaviours that increase wellness in girls, such as increasing activity, decreasing leisure time watching TV and on computers, and consuming more fruits and vegetables, researchers said.

Such interventions may need to begin as early as elementary school to support girls as they enter puberty, a time when their bodies will naturally experience rapid growth, weight gain, and an increase in body fat, they added.

According to nutritionist Neha Chandna, ‘The best way to lose weight is to eat the right food, at the right time, in the right quantity, and exercise daily for 45 minutes to one hour. The point is to lose weight gradually rather than rapidly. A lifestyle change is the answer to losing weight than falling into the trap of fad diets.’ So how do you know if it is a fad diet? Here are some tips.

How to spot a fad diet

It promises exaggerated results in few days which is too good to be true
Will mostly have rigid eating rules
It restricts you from eating a lot of food groups like carbohydrates, fats, etc
It promotes ‘magic foods’
The diet is sold based on a few testimonials without any research or studies done on its effect
It doesn’t involve much exercise along with the meal plans
Ill-effects of fad diets on the body

Causes constipation
Leads to weakness
Loss of concentration
Nausea
Headache
Depression
Muscle loss
Health risks like osteoporosis and many more
With inputs from PTI