Here's an interesting story from this week's Time about teens and vegetarianism. They're reporting on a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health that raises the disturbing possibility that some teens become vegetarians to mask an ongoing eating disorder. The study, conducted in Minnesota, included more than 2500 people aged 15 to 23 years. The surprising finding was the percentage of vegetarians who reported binge eating. Here's an excerpt from the Time story:
"...approximately 20% of the vegetarians turned out to be binge eaters,
compared with only 5% of those who had always eaten meat. Similarly,
25% of current vegetarians, ages 15 to 18, and 20% of former
vegetarians in the same age group said they had engaged in extreme
weight-control measures such as taking diet pills or laxatives and
forcing themselves to vomit. Only 1 in 10 teens who had never been
vegetarian reported similar behavior."
This reminded me of comments that my friend Lou Aronne, MD made when I interviewed him for an article on vegetarianism that appeared in Westchester magazine late last year:
"While it’s challenging enough for adult vegetarians to make the proper
dietary choices, Dr. Aronne is alarmed by the kind of vegetarianism he
sees practiced primarily by poorly informed teenage girls. “They eat
toast with butter and jam for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch,
and pasta with tomato sauce for dinner,” says Dr. Aronne. “This is a
problem because it’s totally unbalanced. Where are the vegetables?
Starch is not a vegetable. If you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables!”
Several studies, including one published in the New England Journal of
Medicine in December 2001, have found evidence that teenage girls who
become vegetarians are at higher risk than others of having or
developing eating disorders and engaging in unsafe weight control
behaviors. In a study of young Australian women, which included more
than 9,000 participants, vegetarians and semi-vegetarians reported more
depression than non-vegetarians (22 percent vs. 15 percent), along with
low iron levels and menstrual difficulties."