Diet

To diet or not…   Don't starve but don't binge either Dieting is increasingly common among teenagers, and the reasons often have little to do with health. The impossibly slim supermodel, the waif-like actress, and the slender metrosexual are exemplars of beauty for many teenagers, and countless diet books and diet gurus exist to promote such notions. Feelings of poor body image and low self-esteem, poor coping skills and other psychosocial risk factors drive many teens towards dieting behaviour that ranges from silly (skipping meals) to frankly dangerous (bulimia, diet pills, diuretics and laxatives). Adults occasionally have to diet and may even need severe calorie restriction, but such approaches are not healthy for teenagers even if they are overweight. Dieting in adolescence may presage the onset of eating disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Extreme calorie restriction and drug abuse for weight loss cause more than just a scrawny looking figure: electrolyte disturbances, alterations in body minerals, increased risk of infection, bone mineral loss, menstrual abnormalities, stunted growth, damaged heart muscle, disorders of heart rhythm and death are very real risks. Studies show that teenagers who diet are also more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, abuse drugs, be delinquent and attempt suicide. The best way for teenagers to avoid dieting is to prevent obesity in the first place. Parents are the biggest influence on what their children eat. A family that consumes a predominantly vegetarian diet rich in fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and pulses is unlikely to have fat kids in it. Teenagers with a weight problem should first see a doctor to rule out endocrine disorders as a cause of obesity. They should maintain a record of everything they eat in a typical week and show it to a dietician or a nutritionist. The solution for a bad diet is a balanced diet — not starvation or low-carb or high-protein diets. Exercise is the safest way of burning calories for a teenager. The rapidity of weight loss on such a sane programme of balanced meals and exercise will leave many teenagers unsatisfied, but there is no safe way around it.