Diet Advice in Magazines May Spark Unhealthy Eating Behaviors

< Jan. 03, 2007 > -- For some adolescent girls, potentially fatal eating disorders may have their roots in the pages of glossy magazines.

A new study from the University of Minnesota has found that girls who were frequent readers of magazine articles about dieting and weight loss were more likely to engage in unhealthy weight-control behaviors five years later. The study was published in the medical journal Pediatrics.

"I'm not surprised," says Susan Kraus, a nutritionist with Hackensack University Medical Center, in Hackensack, N.J. "It's an unfortunate situation, because too many people are influenced by things that look good and that are slick and appealing and sexy, and they may be practicing something that's not the most healthy to get to the way they want to look."

Eating Disorders Receive International Attention

Eating disorders, and the malnutrition that results, can adversely affect nearly every organ system in the body, increasing the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. Eating disorders can be fatal.

The study findings come at a time when the issue of eating disorders is becoming an international debate.

A string of women in South America have recently died of eating disorders, including a 23-year-old teacher who carried only 77 pounds on her 5-foot-2-inch frame when she died, according to the Associated Press.

Two models have also died, including 21-year-old Ana Carolina Reston, of Sao Paolo, Brazil, who died at 5 feet 8 inches tall and 88 pounds. She survived on a diet of apples and tomatoes.

And, in August, 22-year-old Luisel Ramos had a fatal heart attack during a fashion show in Uruguay. She reportedly had been subsisting on lettuce and soft drinks.

Long-Term Effects Studied

According to the authors of this study, previous research had looked at the effect of short-term exposure to media, but little attention had been paid to long-term exposure.

One previous study had found that adolescent girls who were randomly assigned to receive a fashion magazine subscription had increased dieting, bulimic symptoms, and body dissatisfaction, although the effect was most pronounced in girls with less social support or who were already dissatisfied with their bodies.

For this study, the researchers looked at eating, activity levels, weight, and other variables in 2,516 middle- and high-school students.

At the beginning of the study (1999), participants filled out surveys and had their height and weight measured. They were surveyed again five years later, in 2004.

The odds of engaging in unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as fasting, skipping meals, and smoking more cigarettes was double for adolescent girls who were the most frequent readers of magazine articles about dieting and weight loss, compared with those who did not read such periodicals.

The odds of engaging in extreme behaviors such as vomiting or taking laxatives were three times higher in the group that read the most, compared with those who did not read such magazines.

No such association was found for boys.

The authors suggest ways to reduce girls' exposure to these media messages or help them read magazines more critically.

For instance, parents could limit daughters' access to magazines that promote dieting and being excessively thin; in fact, mothers might stop buying the magazines themselves.

"They're [the study authors] saying it's the job of the parents, particularly the moms, of not having some of this literature around the house," Kraus says.

Physicians could also remove such magazines from their waiting rooms, cutting off another avenue of exposure.

Always consult your child's physician for more information.

More About Adolescent Eating Disorders

The term eating disorders refers to a variety of disorders. The common feature of all the eating disorders is abnormal eating behaviors. Eating disorders are serious mental health problems and can be life threatening.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are common eating disorders of adolescents and young adults. Obesity may also be included as an eating disorder and can affect all ages including children and adolescents.

Between 3 and 5 percent of all adolescent females have a diagnosable eating disorder.

Among adolescents with eating disorders, many also have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Anorexia is much more common among females; however, males are less likely to seek treatment, which further complicates the disorder.

Anorexia nervosa (AN), a form of self-starvation, is an eating disorder characterized by low body weight (less than 85 percent of normal weight for height and age), a distorted body image, amenorrhea (absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles when otherwise expected to occur in women), and an intense fear of gaining weight. Anorexia nervosa is sometimes referred to as anorexia.

The occurrence of anorexia nervosa has increased over the past 20 years among adolescents. It is estimated to occur in one out of every 100 females between the ages of 16 and 18 years old. Five to 10 percent of teens diagnosed with anorexia are males. Initially identified in upper- and middle-class families, anorexia is now known to be found in all socioeconomic groups and in a variety of ethnic and racial groups.

Bulimia nervosa, usually referred to as bulimia, is defined as uncontrolled episodes of overeating (bingeing) and usually followed by purging (self-induced vomiting), misuse of laxatives, enemas, or medications that cause increased production of urine, fasting, or excessive exercise to control weight.

Bingeing, in this situation, is defined as eating much larger amounts of food than would normally be consumed within a short period of time (usually less than two hours). Eating binges occur at least twice a week for three months and may occur as often as several times a day.

The majority of bulimics are female, adolescent, and from a high socioeconomic group. All westernized industrial countries have reported incidence of bulimia. An estimated 1 to 4 percent of females in the US are reported to have bulimia.

Adolescents who develop bulimia are more likely to come from families with a history of eating disorders, physical illness, and other mental health problems, such as mood disorders or substance abuse. Other mental health problems, such as anxiety disorders, or mood disorders, are commonly found in teens with bulimia.

Always consult your child's physician for more information.