HHS HealthBeat (July 14, 2008)

What happens when parents tell teens to diet

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

You can tell an overweight teen to diet, but what good will it do? Not much, according to one study – which found that instead it might do bad.

Dianne Neumark-Sztainer of the University of Minnesota examined data on overweight Minnesota teens whose parents told them to diet. She says the advice backfired:

``Overweight children who were encouraged by their parents to diet were more likely to be at a heavier weight five years later than the overweight teenagers whose parents did not encourage them to diet.’’ (12 seconds)

Neumark-Sztainer says overweight teens would be better off being more active than trying diets. And she says parents can offer nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables and non-humongous portions.

The study supported by the National Institutes of Health was in the journal Pediatrics.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: July, 14 2008