Kids, Eating and Weight: What Does the Research Say?

WeightEating Disorders
Written By Karin Kratina

We see warnings that kids are getting fatter, and getting diabetes and other diseases, and are setting themselves up for an early death. The solution offered: weight loss.

What is seldom seen is the results of those weight loss attempts - what happens a few years down the road? Research exists showing what happens! When children try to lose weight, or even try to eat healthy to manage weight, they are more likely to develop disordered eating and poor body image, and can be 3 times more likely to end up heavier in the long run.

Yikes! Not what you had planned. Unfortunately, research showing these concerns rarely makes much news, and when it does, it doesn’t stick around long. So we’ve gathered some of it here for your review. It spans many years.

Also, check out the resources about kids, eating and weight at the bottom of this page.

 

What You Need to Know about Children and Weight

Kids Don’t Need to Diet. Ever. - Teens who diet are set up to be a higher body weight than those who don’t diet. There may be initial weight loss, but these efforts become become detrimental to children’s ability to regulate their food intake when older. Children who diet have an exponentially higher risk of developing eating disorder than those who don’t diet. (Article includes research and eating disorder prevention tips.)

Dieting Most Important Predictor of Developing Eating Disorders - A large study of students 14 to 15 years of age followed for 3 years showed that students who severely restricted their energy intake and skipped meals were 18 times more likely to develop an ED than those who did not diet; those who dieted at a moderate level had a fivefold increased risk.

Talking About Diets or Weight is Bad for All Adolescents - According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, dieting is the most important predictor for developing an eating disorder. And it’s not so great for weight either. Teenagers in the US who diet in ninth grade (around 15 years of age) are three times more likely than non-dieters to be overweight by 12th grade.

Even If An Adolescent Starts Out Overweight - Adolescents who have lost large amounts of weight will experience typical cognitions and acute medical complications of anorexia nervosa (AN), even though they are not thin enough to be diagnosed with AN. This includes higher-weight adolescents who have extensively lost weight

Being Fat Is Not A Moral Failure. Here's How To Teach Your Kids That - Teach your children to break the cycle of body hatred and stop assigning moral value to weight loss or weight gain.

I Help People Recover From Disordered Eating. Don’t Give Your Child This App - The research below is just a sampling of that that concludes that helping a child lose weight usually causes them to become heavier in the long run, but also creates body image and eating problems. And now WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) is helping to harm children. 8/19

Mama: Don’t talk weight loss resolutions in front of your child  —here’s why. Moms are probably the most important influence on a daughter's body image. Even saying, 'You look so beautiful, but I'm so fat,’ can trigger unhealthy eating behaviors and weight struggles in their child. 12/17

How to Determining Ideal Body Weight in Kids with Eating Disorders - If the only way a kid can maintain a certain weight is by constant restrained eating and exercising, then that weight is not their body's ideal weight.4/13

Kids Who Eat Candy Less Likely to Become Overweight - “Jaw dropping research” of 11,000 kids shows that children who ate sweets were 22% less likely to be overweight than kids who avoided sweets. Adolescents who ate candy were 26% less likely to be overweight than those who avoided candy. 06/11 (Not really jaw dropping if you understand the psychology of eating!)

Coming to Terms with my Daughter's Genetically Programmed Body Size - From a mom who did not want to harm her child, but also lamented her daughter no longer being thin. 11/11

Around the Dinner Table Forum - Free support and conversation for parents of those suffering from eating disorders. 

Parent's comments about a child's weight are related to weight and body dissatisfaction as an adult. Eat Weight Disord. 7/16

Preventing Obesity and Eating Disorders in Adolescents. Kids trying to lose weight, or who are around weight talk (including parents talking about their own weight) and or who are teased about weight have a dramatically increased chance of abnormal weight gain. What minimizes the chance of unnatural weigh gain and eating problems? Eating family meals together and cultivating a positive body image. Pediatrics, 8/16.

Tell your doctor NOT to comment about your child's weight BEFORE THE VISIT. Recently, a client being treated for anorexia told me a year earlier, at age 12, a doctor told her to "watch her weight" and that she should be more active (he didn't say she was fat). She began restricting and a year later, she was in my office. I've seen this many times. 

Frequent Scale-Steppers Gain More Weight - Teen girls who frequently weighed themselves were more likely than others to resort to unhealthy dieting measures, and some ended up gaining close to twice as much weight. 12/06.

Thinning the Milk Does Not Mean Thinning the Child - School based obesity intervention programs don’t work, but that’s not stopping anyone. 12/06

Mom's Weight Focus Can Rub Off On Kids - Dieting mom's can trigger unhealthy fixation on weight in their kids. Even small cues, such as making self-deprecating remarks about thighs or showing delight over weight loss, can send the message that children should be similarly focused. 8/06

Family’s Weight Comments Harm Girls - Girls whose families criticize their weight or eating habits may develop lasting problems with body image and self-esteem. Data suggest that even occassional comments may have a lasting negative impact. 8/06

Grades in School Suffer Among Those Trying To Lose Weight - Research shows students who are restricting food intake perform more poorly on exams. Interesting, this reverses when they are no longer dieting. 5/04

Children Who Diet End Up Heavier - "Dieting to control weight is not only ineffective, it may actually promote weight gain, according to this study of more than 16,000 U.S. boys and girls age 9 to 14 from 1996 to 1998.  Pediatrics, 10/03.

Five-year-old girls’ ideas about dieting are predicted by their mothers’ dieting - Kids are paying attention. Mothers’ dieting behavior is a source of young girls’ ideas, concepts, and beliefs about dieting. If you’re dieting, how well can you hide it? 10/00

Dieting Promotes Weight Gain - Teens who limit food intake to control weight end up heavier. 1/00

Bad News for Girls Who Try to Control Their Weight - Girls without obesity who dieted in the ninth grade were 3 times more likely to be overweight in the 12th grade compared with nondieters. 12/99

 

Resources to Help Your Child
Avoid (or Heal) Eating, Weight and Body Image Problems

Articles

Internet

Books

  • For Parents:  

 About Eating Wisdom and Drs Karin and Hannah

We are two PhD level Registered and Licensed Nutritionists whose passion is to help others escape diet culture and to learn to use their natural, innate Eating Wisdom to, finally, find peace with food, eating and weight.

Check out our course, Intuitive Eating: How to Escape Diet Culture and Become an Empowered Eater,. plus we have lots of info and handouts (including the original Hunger Fullness Scale) at our website, www.EatingWisdom.com. We also offer 1:1 nutrition therapy. Take advantage of our combined 40+ years of experience and reach out today!

© 2021 Karin Kratina, PhD, RD, LDN

Karin Kratina
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