[Questions by adolescents about dieting].
In recent years there has been increasing concern and involvement of Israeli adolescents with dieting. An increase in the incidence of obesity has been emphasized by the mass media. This has been marked by an increase in the number of questions on dieting sent anonymously by 12 to 14 year-olds to a column in a popular youth magazine about adolescent sexuality. These letters include requests for diets to prevent obesity in general and fatness of certain parts of the body in particular, such as the thighs or buttocks; questions as to side-effects of diets already started, particularly amenorrhea; and questions about the onset of bulimia and anorexia nervosa, expressing fear of the consequences. This study gives examples of the questions and the answers, and indicates the professions of those to whom the applicants were referred for further diagnosis and treatment. Newer techniques of health education with regard to adolescent dieting are urgently needed so that the health staff can promote insight and indicate the need for treatment at as early a stage as possible. The use of mass media in a suitable manner is critical, given the increase in diet-advertising.
Bloch
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D000293:Adolescent; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media