Study shows concerned children turning to diets

Research among primary and secondary school children has found that girls are almost three times more likely than boys to diet.

Nearly 2000 young people aged between 10 and 19 were surveyed about their eating habits and body image as part of a PhD study at the University of Queensland.

Dr Jeanie Sheffield, from the School of Psychology, found that close to one third of girls in the study had been on a diet at some time in an effort to lose weight.

Dr Sheffield measured a number of biological, psychological and social factors, including the level of dissatisfaction the children had with the size and shape of their bodies, in an effort to explain dieting patterns.

Looking at why adolescents diet, she found they do so because they are dissatisfied with their bodies, endorse current socio-cultural attitudes towards appearance, and are upset by teasing about their size or shape.

Dr Sheffield said since the 1960s the trend had been for more girls and young women to diet with the majority of these girls being of normal weight for their height and not needing to lose weight.

'Over recent times there has been an increasing trend for younger children and for more underweight girls to diet,' she said.

The research also examined perceptions of the 'ideal' body size, shape and appearance as portrayed in the media and elsewhere and the extent to which young people related to such images.

Dr Sheffield said more girls than boys thought their weight was not correct for their height, considered the ideal body to be smaller than their own, and were more dissatisfied with their bodies.

Boys were dissatisfied with their bodies when others teased them about their size, whereas girls were dissatisfied because they thought they were too fat.

That dissatisfaction - and the corresponding level of dieting - increased for girls as they grew older and their bodies gained additional fat during puberty; conversely, boys became more satisfied and dieted less as they grew older since their bodies lost fat and gained muscle.

Other key elements in dieting behaviour for both sexes included perceptions of self-worth and whether the youngsters had a positive and optimistic outlook on life or were negative and pessimistic.

Only three percent of those surveyed said they smoked to control their weight, while girls were much more aware than boys of their mothers' dieting habits. In 29 percent of households someone was on a diet.

Dr Sheffield said one reason for her research was the negative health implications associated with dieting by young people.

This partly related to the potentially adverse effects dieting could have on rapidly growing bodies and also the suggestion of a link with the clinical eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

'Overall, the results showed that there were a number of variables that may be risk factors for both dieting behaviours and body dissatisfaction,' she said.

'Girls reported significantly more disordered eating attitudes and behaviours than boys, including frequency of dieting, preoccupation with thinness, fear of being overweight and guilt after eating.'

Dr Sheffield said although eating disorders affected only a small percentage of people, those people typically had a history of dieting prior to the onset of the disorder.

Results from the research suggested the presence of at least some symptoms of eating disorders in 16.7 percent of girls and 10.3 percent of boys.

Given the prevalence of dieting among adolescents, especially girls, Dr Sheffield said it was ironic that dieting had been shown to be unsuccessful as a long-term weight-loss strategy.

For further information, contact Dr Jeanie Sheffield (telephone 3365 6690).