Severe dieters were 18 times more likely than other girls to develop a new eating disorder within six months than those who did not cut back on food. Moderate dieters were at a five times higher risk. The girls' mental health was also a risk factor. Those with high levels of mental health problems were up to seven times more likely to develop eating disorders than the average teenager. The researchers say the risk of becoming anorexic and bulimic is so high for girls because they are more likely to diet and suffer mental health problems than boys.
Evidence shows that exercise can also be a danger factor for eating disorders.
They think teenagers with weight problems would be better advised to do daily exercise to keep their weight down than to diet. Differences in the incidence of eating disorders between sexes were largely accounted for by the high rates of earlier dieting and psychiatric morbidity in the female subjects. In adolescents, controlling weight by exercise rather than diet restriction seems to carry less risk of development of eating disorders. Research shows children are not doing as much exercise as they did in the past because of lack of space to play and parents' fears about letting their children out on the streets. Thin culture' Caroline Green of the Centre for Eating Disorders said children needed to be encouraged to adopt a healthy attitude to exercise and eating from an early age.