Extreme Weight Control Behavior In Adolescence Continues Into Adulthood – Study

Dieting adolescents who develop extreme weight control behaviors and binge eating are likely to continue these harmful activities into adulthood, U.S. research has found. The researchers analyzed data from a 10-year longitudinal study that examined eating, activity, and weight-related variables among more than 2,000 young people. Among females, the use of extreme weight control behaviors increased from 8.4 percent to 20.4 percent between early adolescence and early young adulthood and from 12.6 percent to 20.6 percent between middle adolescence and middle young adulthood. Extreme weight control behaviors among males increased from 2.1 percent in middle adolescence to 7.3 percent in middle young adulthood. The findings point to a need for “early and ongoing efforts aimed at the prevention, early identification, and treatment of disordered eating behaviors in young people," the researchers concluded.