Lifestyle » Connect with Kids

Diets Don't Work

By Shaun O’Leary
July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 4:03 PM EDT

Each year, millions of Americans try to improve their appearance and their health by going on a diet at a cost of 40 billion dollars each year. Some of those dieters are kids but often their efforts produce exactly the opposite result. According to a new study from Canada, 13 percent of young girls are on a diet to lose weight and many of them end up gaining weight. Experts say the problem with diets is two fold. Page Love, a Registered Dietician. says first off, "when a young person takes a diet on their own and they're not sure how to balance their food plan they may broadly cut out a whole food group and not realize that they are cutting out essential nutrients, essential energy." The second problem, she says, too often they starve themselves all day long, "and we're so hungry because of the energy void that we've built all day that the potential for overeating or even for some kids binge eating is much greater."
Experts say, especially for kids, diets often fail and can be unhealthy. Dr. Lonny Horowitz, a Bariatric Specialist, says "Children are growing. You don't want to inhibit their diet so much that it interferes with their ability to grow normally and grow healthfully. So imposing crazy diets on them, real strict diets where they are not allowed to have any of the things that they normally would like to have, that's obviously unhealthy for them, too." What does work, he says, is healthy eating and regular exercise.
Also, lo-carb diets have an added risk for teenage girls: The high protein intake can cause a loss of bone density over time, potentially increasing the risk of osteoporosis.

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