Teen Dieting and Weight Gain
>> Dec 29, 2009
Adolescence is a common time for girls to start to worry about their weight, and often attempt weight-reducing or controlling measures. A study published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at whether behavioural strategies by teenage girls were beneficial in preventing long-term weight gain.
The study looked at dietary and physical activity strategies, alone and together, and subsequent weight gain of over 4400 females, aged 14 to 22, over 4 years.
23.7% of girls said they were trying to maintain their weight, and 54.5% said they were trying to lose weight. The weight control strategies used by most of the girls included: not eating snacks, following low-calorie or low-fat diets, limiting portion sizes, and exercising.
The outcomes
Participants in the study gained an average of 3.3kg (7.3 lbs). None of the dietary strategies alone predicted less weight gain. Girls who exercised 5 or more times per week gained significantly less weight. The strategy that was found to be most successful in preventing weight gain (no surprise here!) - the combination of limiting portion sizes combined with frequent exercise.
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1 comments:
When I was a teen I really am weight conscious. I always ask myself if I am eating too much, if the food I eat are healthy and many more crazy questions I could think about back then. In high school my parents enrolled me in a boarding school because they said I can learn things there and people can watch me more than they can. Now that I am a parent I realized that my parents did a good job raising me and I intend to do the same for my kids.
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