JAMA Pediatrics: Weight worries and dieting are on the rise among teens, or lead to depression

As obesity becomes more common, social advocacy for "thin for beauty" is becoming more widespread, and dieting to control weight is becoming more common, especially among teenagers with a BMI.
is noteworthy because experimental studies have found that dieting is ineffective in weight loss in young people, and restrictive eating behaviors are associated with poor mental health outcomes, including depression and eating disorders.
, has the prevalence of weight loss and weight perception among adolescents and their relationship to depressive symptoms changed over the past 30 years? A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics explores this issue and finds that girls who try to lose weight are more likely to develop depressive symptoms than in previous years: in 2015, 42 percent of 14-year-old girls and boys said they were trying to lose weight, compared with 30 percent in 2005.
study used repeated cross-sectional data from continuous longitudinal birth queue studies.
the study included a sample of the general population of 14 to 16-year-olds in the UK from three ongoing birth queues: British Cohort Study 1970 (children born between 5 and 11 April 1970; data collected in 1986); Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (Mothers who were expected to give birth between 1 April 1991 and 21 December 1992; data collected in 2005) and The Millennium Cohort Study (children born between 1 September 2000 and 11 January 2002; data collected in 2015).
22,503 adolescents who had at least one adolescent weight control or weight perception variable in the study.
data analysis period is from 1 August 2019 to 15 January 2020.
Main results and measurements: self-reported diet status and exercise weight loss, current weight expectations (do nothing, lose weight, stay the same, gain weight), conscious weight (underweight, proper weight, overweight) adjusted to body mass index.
secondary result is depressive symptoms.
study found an increase in the prevalence of weight loss in 2015 compared to 2005 and 1986, a change that cannot be explained solely by known changes in body mass index.
2015 boys had more weight control behaviors than girls compared to 2005 and 1986, but in the latter, these behaviors were associated with more severe depressive symptoms.
the relationship between weight-altering behavior and depressive symptoms increased with age and gender, and adolescents who thought they were underweight and overweight had greater depressive symptoms.
that only among teenagers who said they were overweight did girls report more severe depressive symptoms than boys.
changes in weight perception and depressive symptoms by queue and sex showed an increase in weight change behavior in 2015 compared to both 2005 and 1986.
although weight loss-aiming behaviors were more common in girls in all groups, they were more common among boys in groups born in recent years.
recent evidence suggests that the media's standards of male beauty have shifted over the past few decades, and that muscular bodies are becoming more regulated, which may explain these findings.
, the pressure on women to stay slim has been around longer, probably since the 1960s and 1970s. Dr Solmi, lead author of the
study, said: "The media's description of slim figures, the rise of the fitness industry and the emergence of social media may partly explain our findings, and public health information about calorie restriction and exercise can cause unexpected harm.
campaign around obesity should take into account the adverse effects on mental health and ensure that weight discrimination is avoided.
can have a positive impact on mental and physical health by promoting health and well-being rather than focusing on 'healthy weight'.
" References: Solmi F, Sharpe, PhD H, Gage SH, Maddock J, Lewis G, Patalay P. Changes in The Face and Correlates of Weight-Control Behaviors and Weight Perceptions in The UK, 1986-2015. JAMA Pediatr. Published online November 16, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.4746MedSci Original Source: MedSci Original Copyright Notice: All noted on this website "Source: Metz Medicine" or "Source: MedSci Original" text, images and audio and video materials, copyrights are owned by Metz Medical, without authorization, no media, website or individual may reproduce, authorized to reproduce with the words "Source: Mets Medicine".
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