A study from the University of Texas and Stanford University School of Medicine has revealed that girls who use drastic measures to lose weight are more likely to become obese.

For the purposes of this study, "drastic measures" included excessive exercise, radical diets, appetite suppressants, laxatives, and vomiting.

Writing in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Dr. Eric Stice noted that the girls in the study may have miscalculated the amount of food they were eating and the extent to which they were exercising.

Labels: exercise, weight_gain, teens, girls, obesity

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Smoking makes teenage girls fat - but it may take 10 years to happen.

A new study in the American Journal of Public Health followed more than 4,200 twins from age 16 to their mid 20s. The women in the study who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day as teenagers were 2.5 times more likely to be overweight in their twenties than were non-smoking girls. The effect did not hold true for boys.

"My hunch is that women are more likely to smoke for weight control in adolescence," said the study's lead author, Professor Sherry Pagoto of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "When people quit, they start snacking during those times they used to be smoking."

Labels: weight_gain, smoking

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Researchers associated with the University of Western Sydney (Australia) have found a strong link between obesity and eating disorders:

"People who are overweight or have weight disorder have higher weight and shape concerns, and often engage much more commonly in extreme weight control behaviors, which then develop into more serious disordered eating and eating disorders such as binge eating..."

The best way to treat an obese individual who also struggles with disordered eating is to incorporate a combined approach of counseling, diet, and exercise. Source: The World Today

Labels: body_image, weight_gain, obesity

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Emily Reese is currently the best girls distance runner in the state of Georgia. Soon, she'll compete for her fourth state championship. All Georgia eyes are on her, as are such universities as Duke Princeton and Harvard. Emily knows that a good deal of attention comes along with all her success.

"It also comes with being 5 feet 6, 100 pounds in a sport that can seduce girls into believing that leaner means faster. 'I wouldn't say that I have to defend myself, but I know that some people make comments on how thin I am,' Reese said."

Reese is naturally thin and doesn't try to lose weight; in fact, she's trying to gain a few extra pounds just make sure she stays healthy. She regularly visits a nutritionist, and has an annual blood work screen. She places a lot of importance on letting other girls in her sport know that you don't have to be thin to be fast.

Mount Bachelor Academy, like other schools for troubled teens, offer therapy and counseling to students struggling with their emotions. Learn more at www.mtba.com.

Labels: weight_gain, nutrition, healthy

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