14 DAY TRIAL // In a new investigation, researchers determined that teenagers who are binge eaters, or who engage in other unhealthy and excessive weight control behaviors, tend to carry the habit with them into adulthood. This contributes to the growing incidence of obesity and other diseases in the population.
Experts at the University of Minnesota say that they looked at data covering 1,030 young men and 1,257 young women. The information were extracted from a 10-year longitudinal study called Project EAT-III (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults).
The purpose of this survey was to examine eating, activity and weight-related factors in the teen population of the United States. Test subjects were aged between 13 and 16 when the investigation began, and between 23 and 26 when it concluded.
In the questionnaires the teens filled out regularly, researchers included questions about extreme eight control methods – including skipping meals and fasting – binge eating and diets. The team also accounted for factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, age, and race or ethnicity.
“The findings from the current study argue for early and ongoing efforts aimed at the prevention, early identification, and treatment of disordered eating behaviors in young people,” says Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, MPH, RD, who was the lead investigator of the work.
The work determined that young women held on to the same eating behaviors from their early teen years to early adulthood. The researchers discovered little variations in these habits, which is a point of concern for public healthcare experts.
Only about 25 percent of males constantly reported dieting in the past year, whereas about 50 percent of the females engaged in this behavior. In males, the prevalence of dieting remained constant during their teen years,but increased slightly as they progressed to middle young adulthood.
“Within clinical practices, dietitians and other health care providers should be asking about the use of these behaviors prior to adolescence, throughout adolescence, and into young adulthood,” the team writes in a new paper accompanying the findings.
“Given the growing concern about obesity, it is important to let young people know that dieting and disordered eating behaviors can be counterproductive to weight management,” they add.
“Young people concerned about their weight should be provided with support for healthful eating and physical activity behaviors that can be implemented on a long-term basis, and should be steered away from the use of unhealthy weight control practices,” the researchers argue.
Additional details of the work can be found in the July issue of the medical Journal of the American Dietetic Association, PsychCentral reports.