School Setting: Young People and Dieting

School Setting: Young People and Dieting 

Studies show that body dissatisfaction and engaging in dieting are the two biggest risk factors that increase a young person's chance of developing an eating disorder.  

Regardless of whether a young person goes on to develop an eating disorder body dissatisfaction and dieting can have significant impact on their mental and physical health. 

What are the risks of dieting for a young person? 

When a person physically and psychologically deprives themselves of food there are a number of negative consequences: 

1. Dehydration - dieting can cause weight loss but it has been shown that a lot of this weight will be loss of water thus causing dehydration. Dehydration can also cause headaches, fatigue and dizziness and can impair learning performance. 
2. Fluctuations in blood sugar levels - in the short term this can cause shaking, anxiety, dizziness and other symptoms.  
3. Muscle breakdown - during periods of rapid weight loss, the body will begin to break down protein cells in your muscles for energy, thus causing muscle break down. This can mean that basic exercise and movement become increasingly difficult for those engaging in extreme dieting. 
4. Malnutrition - when your body isn't getting the nutrients it needs from food, it begins breaking down fat and other parts of the body for energy. This can cause bad breath, nausea, and in extreme cases heart and liver failure. 
5. Cognitive impairment - depriving the body of nutrients also effects the brain in both the short and long term. In the short term, the brain becomes more susceptible to stress and anxiety increasing the likelihood of developing depression. In the long term, dieting can cause impairments in visual-spatial memory and decreased brain growth. 
6. Irritability and mood changes - a lack of nutrition can have significant impacts on the child's mood. A child that would normally be a pleasure to teach/be around could suddenly be irritable or  experience highly changeable emotions. 
7. Decline in school performance - with lack of nutrition can also come a decrease in motivation and cognitive function that can affect school performance.  
8. Binge eating and associated guilt and shame - rigid and strict rules about food are unrealistic and set the person up to fail. Eventually diet rules are broken and this can result in overeating, binge eating, guilt and shame. 

Young people who diet excessively have decreased mental and physical health outcomes, decreased social participation, decreased concentration and attention and overall struggle to have a well-rounded and healthy life.

Normal Eating

Normal eating is the healthy alternative to dieting. Normal eating, sometimes called “natural eating” is different for everyone. Everyone has their own intuitive sense of what feels right for them. 

 FACT: Every single person has a way of eating that feels relaxed and intuitive for them. There is no standardised or one size fits all rule for what normal eating looks like. It’s like finding that position that feels most comfy to fall asleep in at night – it’s different and unique to us all  

 If you are concerned that student may require support with their eating or weight irrespective of the presence of eating disorder symptoms than it is best to encourage they discs this with their General Practitioner (GP) who can medically assess and monitor their physical health and facilitate a referral to a dietitian or psychologist if needed.  

For general information about healthy eating for young people (and for adults) head to the Australia Government website Eat For Health https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/The%20Guidelines/n55f_children_brochure.pdf