Their survey repeated and expanded upon Branen's survey a decade earlier of weight preoccupation among female students at the university. In the 1999 study, preoccupation with weight went hand in hand with preoccupation with shape. Their average test scores fell just short of the score that screens for anorexia nervosa. Average test scores were the same in 1989 and 1999, indicating that weight preoccupation was no more extreme in 1999 despite being more widespread. While weight preoccupation is widespread, Branen is loathe to call it normal.
Research also suggests that weight preoccupation can develop into full-blown eating disorders.
Branen is particularly concerned about the risk of osteoporosis in young women who should be rapidly building bone through good nutrition but are shunning calcium-rich milk for diet pop. Branen's findings are in line with a handful of studies from the United States and abroad suggesting that weight preoccupation is widespread among young women in developed countries. It's not just thin, it's totally emaciated, and yet they're the ones getting parts. Being thin tends to take on more importance during transitional times in people's lives, Branen said, such as when young women are making the transition from high school to college or from college to the workplace. I think that's the greatest waste of all.