Teenage Dieting
...ng attractive images of confident, slim individuals and many teens then conclude that being thin brings happiness, beauty, and health. What the weight loss programs do not explain on their commercials is that the images shown are not guaranteed results. Every person’s body reacts differently to exercise and dieting. Every person in the world has a different body type, and the media portrays a perfect image that many strive to achieve, but few ever succeed. Famous actresses, such as Demi Moore and Halle Berry, have a slim physique that many teenage girls strive to achieve because they relate their success with their size. Teens who diet are often more concerned with their outside image than the damage they are doing to their insides; moreover, teens who diet are often doing more damage to their bodies than they are improving their appearance. No child or teenager should be limiting their food intake at such a key stage in the their growth. Dieting can cause temporary weight change, but it can also leave behind serious permanent effects. By not providing the body with the nutrients it needs to function, the teen creates deficiencies in the immune system. The teenage years are crucial to the proper development of an adolescent into an adult, but without the necessary amounts of nutrients, the growth of a young teen could be stunted. Teenagers today should focus more on eating healthy as opposed to trying to lose weight to obtain a “perfect” image. In many situations, teenagers who diet end up gaining weight due to a depressed mental state. Lifestyle habits are often established in the adolescent years and dieting at such a young age can set up for a life of malnutrition. Teenage dieting is often a gateway leading to eating disorders. Millions of teenagers in America suffer from anorexia and bulimia, the two most common eating disorders. Eating disorders usually originate from a diet or an extreme weight loss program. Even though both anorexia and bulimia result in physical harm, they are both considered psychological disea...