Electronic letters to:

Research:
Gail McVey, Stacey Tweed, and Elizabeth Blackmore
Dieting among preadolescent and young adolescent females
CMAJ 2004; 170: 1559-1561 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
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[Read eLetter] Dieting among preadolescent and young adolescent females: A comment
Jacqueline Quail   (17 May 2004)

Dieting among preadolescent and young adolescent females: A comment 17 May 2004
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Jacqueline Quail
Division of Clincial Epidemiology, Royal Victoria Hospital

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Re: Dieting among preadolescent and young adolescent females: A comment

jacqueline.quail{at}sympatico.ca Jacqueline Quail

In their recent research letter to CMAJ, McVey et al suggest that fear of being overweight and the desire to be thinner will lead to behaviors such as “dieting and other extreme weight control methods” (1). Their proposed solution is to increase the education of key individuals, including primary care physicians.

When designing a prevention program, it is important to realize that fear of becoming overweight among teens is reasonable. Given the significant social discrimination against obese individuals in areas such as marriage, income, health care and education (2, 3), it is not surprising that teens may go to great lengths to prevent weight gain. This is especially true given the rise in obesity seen in children and teens (4, 5).

It would have been useful if the authors had reported how many respondents in their sample were aware that their eating behavior was inappropriate because this has a great bearing on what preventative measures should be taken. In particular, it would be helpful to determine how a physician should deal with a girl at serious risk of obesity if dieting is not an option.

In most individuals, dieting and disordered eating is a symptom of the underlying issue of body dissatisfaction. It is not clear how effective educational prevention programs may be to address this problem. However, it seems advisable to determine the overall impact of such interventions (including any possible adverse outcomes) before recommending this approach to primary care physicians in general.

Jacqueline Quail, MSc, PhD Candidate, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec

J. A. Chris Delaney, MSc, Statistician, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec

Bruce Oddson, PhD, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

1. McVey G, Tweed S and Blackmore E. Dieting among preadolescent and young adolescent females. CMAJ. 2004;170(10):1559-1561.

2. Gortmaker SL, Must A, Perrin JM, Sobol AM, Dietz WH. Social and economic consequences of overweight in adolescence and young adulthood. N Engl J Med. 1993 Sep 30;329(14):1008-12.

3. Puhl R, Brownell KD. Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obes Res. 2001 ;9(12):788-805.

4. Chinn S and Rona RJ. Prevalence and trends in overweight and obesity in three cross sectional studies of British children, 1974-94. BMJ 2001; 322: 24-26.

5. Ball GD, McCargar LJ. Childhood obesity in Canada: a review of prevalence estimates and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Can J Appl Physiol. 2003 Feb;28(1):117-40.

Conflict of Interest:

None declared