Sad consequences when teenage girls diet just like mum

SURVEY SHOWS THE PRESSURE PARENTS, FRIENDS AND MEDIA PUT GIRLS UNDER

By Sandra Roycroft-Davis

A new survey of teenage girls has really disturbed me. It shows that 13- to 19-year-olds are more than twice as likely to diet if their mother is constantly watching her weight. Imagine the extra strain this puts on young girls to stay thin – as if the fashion and showbusiness world pressure isn’t bad enough.

The poll of 2,500 girls, commissioned by teen magazine Sugar, discovered that 15 per cent of teenage girls diet regularly, despite the health issues this can cause. Girls said comments from their parents, the attitudes of their friends and pictures in the media of size zero celebrities all pushed them into dieting.

But worryingly, the number dieting more than doubled among girls whose mothers are concerned about their own weight. An alarming 36 per cent of girls whose mothers jumped from one diet to another end up see cutting out calories as a necessary way of life.

 All the experts I talk to say that worrying too much about your weight at that age can raise the risk of anorexia. Doctors know that extreme weight loss can interfere with puberty. But girls can’t avoid copying their mothers, often with sad consequences.

  Not surprisingly, considering all the pressure I’ve talked about, some 93 per cent of girls polled said they were worried about their weight, and more than 75 per cent said they had friends who were on a diet.

 I can only echo the sound advice of Tam Fry, from the Child Growth Foundation, who says: “Parents should draw as little attention as possible to weight but still make sure their daughters eat healthily. Girls put on weight because of the biological consequences of puberty, but they should let nature take its course because 99 per cent of them will slim down in the end.”

Some of the overweight girls I see make me want to cry. How sad it is that they don’t understand how important it is to look after their bodies. But equally, I find it just as alarming that some girls starve themselves until they are stick thin.

I hope that the work we do at ThinkingSlimmer.com will help people to change their attitudes to food and exercise and see that there are simple and effective ways to lose weight which aren’t a risk to their health. All of us who have daughters have a duty to try to lead by good example.