Dieting and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviors Predict Later Weight Gain

Dieting and unhealthy weight control behaviors (e.g., skipping meals, using diet pills) are linked to excess weight gain during adolescence, but does this association continue into young adulthood? To find out, investigators analyzed longitudinal data from 1714 middle school and high school students (55% girls) in Minnesota. Mean age at baseline (1998–1999) was 12 years among the one third of participants who started in early adolescence and 16 years in the two thirds who started in middle adolescence.

Persistent “users” were participants who reported dieting or unhealthy weight control behaviors at baseline and 5 years later; 38% of girls and 10% of boys were persistent dieters and 44% of girls and 19% of boys reported persistent unhealthy …