Eating Disorders Blog

A recent study indicates that teen vegetarians are more interested in losing weight than realizing the health benefits of a meatless diet, saving the environment, or protecting animals.

The study, led by nutritionist Ramona Robison-O'Brien, an assistant professor at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota, found that 25 percent of young “vegetarians” still eat white-meat chicken, and 46 percent eat fish. In addition, 20 percent reported binge-eating behaviors, and 25 percent reported using extreme weight-loss measures.

The authors of the study recommend that parents and doctors be extra vigilant when a teen suddenly decides to become vegetarian, as it may be an effort to camouflage unhealthy eating behaviors.

(Source: www.time.com)

Labels: eating disorder, vegetarians

Posted By: Staff Writer 1 Comment

According to a new joint study by the University of Minnesota, University of Texas, and St. John's University researchers, vegetarians have healthier diets but are also at higher risk for eating disorders. The team analyzed more that 2,500 males and females aged 15-23. Vegetarian adolescents and young adults were more likely than non-vegetarians to report binge eating with loss of control. In addition, study results indicated that vegetarians may be at higher risk for unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as diet pills, vomiting, laxatives, and diuretics.

(Source: www.littleabout.com)

Labels: eating disorder, vegetarians

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Young people who follow a vegetarian diet tend to eat healthier foods and weigh less than their meat-eating peers. However, they are also more likely to engage in dangerous weight control measures such as self-induced vomiting, laxatives, and binge-and-purge habits, according to new research from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Texas, Austin. The researchers surveyed 2500 people ages 15 to 23 about their eating and weight control habits.

"What we would be concerned about ... might be that in some instances a [claim of a] vegetarian diet could conceal an underlying decision to lose weight and restrict food intake," said Dr. David Waller, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas "This might be, for some teenagers, a more acceptable way of restricting their eating rather than being more overt or explicit about it."

Dr. Waller said there are many benefits to a vegetarian diet, but parents should work with their teenagers to create healthy eating patterns through family-shared meals.

This study appears in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Labels: weight-control, vegetarians

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

According to a new joint study by the University of Minnesota, University of Texas, and St. John's University researchers, vegetarians have healthier diets but are also at higher risk for eating disorders. The team analyzed more that 2,500 males and females aged 15-23. Vegetarian adolescents and young adults were more likely than non-vegetarians to report binge eating with loss of control. In addition, study results indicated that vegetarians may be at higher risk for unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as diet pills, vomiting, laxatives, and diuretics.
(Source: www.littleabout.com)

Labels: binge-eating, vegetarians, risks

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments