Dietary Restriction in Young Women: Issues and Concerns

Abstract

The majority of young women in the U.S. and Western Europe dislike their bodies and report dieting in an attempt to lose weight. Surprisingly little is known about the young women's actual intake and the degree and duration of their caloric restriction. This lack of knowledge makes it very difficult to determine whether these young women are substantially increasing their risk for psychological and physiological problems. The data available indicate that both dietary restraint without caloric restriction and actual caloric restriction are associated with increased rates of reported binge eating. Untoward physiological effects of dieting should be dependent on degree and duration of caloric restriction and age. Possible physiological problems deserving increased investigation in this population include impaired nutritional status, growth retardation, increased metabolic efficiency, reproductive risk, and reduced bone mineralization. The prevalence of reported dieting and the critical developmental stage of young women warrants more attention being paid to their eating behavior and its potential consequences.