Imaginable Excess Weight Harms Girls’ Health

Scientists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology encourage not to think about diets. They are concerned that such thoughts often torment people who are not overweight. Sometimes the desire to lose weight is called forth not by a real problem, but by the general trend – the thinner the better.

But this trend is no good, experts say, and they prove it by specific examples. They conducted an experiment in which more than a thousand young people from 13 to 19 took part. It was found that six out of ten girls (i.e., more than half) lament about being overweight – and they really get extra kilos at the age of 20, even if previously they had no. Interestingly, if a girl is not worried about her size, the risk to get overweight is half as big.

With boys, the picture is slightly different: the same six in ten felt that they needed to lose weight, but the thoughts about dieting did not affect their weight as much as in the case with girls.

If we talk about the general picture, 59% of girls and 63% of boys who had hypertrophied ideas of their own body weight gained extra pounds when they reached 20. According to the experts, this is due to the fact that teenagers are beginning to dramatically restrict their diet, then get frustrated, and the body reacts to this by adding weight.