Among risk factors for eating disorder development, dieting may be the most insidious. Dieting creates many dynamics that encourage eating disorders, just as sexual abuse and teasing from friends do. The difference is that dieting is considered "normal" and is encouraged in western culture. In fact, when someone attempts to lose weight through dieting and does not, she often considers herself a failure.
The Real Failures--Diets Themselves
The main reason to avoid dieting is simple: In the vast majority of cases, diets just don't work. One two-year study of 418 men and women classified as obese evaluated Weight Watchers against a self-help program. At the end of two years, Weight Watchers had produced an average weight loss of 6.4 pounds. The self-help program barely recorded any weight loss at all. But obviously, most who begin diets are not content with losing 6.4 pounds. The diet in this case is an expensive failure.
Focusing on college-age women, another study reported that dieting actually predicted weight gain among the sixty-nine women studied rather than weight loss.
Beyond Weight Gain to Disordered Eating
Those who diet moderately are five times more likely to develop eating disorders than those who don't diet. For those who diet "severely," the chances of an eating disorder are eighteen times greater.
Dieting Can Promote Eating Disorders in Loved Ones
Further, dieting sets an example that can lead to eating disorders in others. A mother's dieting creates a greater chance of an eating disorder in her daughter. The same occurs when a sister diets, or when someone has a group of friends who diet.
How Are Dieting and Eating Disorders Linked?
When a diet starts, food becomes the enemy. If you see a food you like, you're annoyed because it's probably forbidden. If you encounter a food that is "okay" according to the diet, you're often just as annoyed because it's a food you don't like. Every encounter with food creates tension.
The greater the threat, the more desperate we become in response to an enemy. When desperation against food ("that evil stuff that seems to make my body look bad") gets high enough, eating disorders look more attractive.
Worse, dieting decreases the body's rate of metabolism, because the body believes that it needs to conserve energy for survival.
Social and Psychological Problems of Dieting
Dieting also makes social interaction harder, because it often means refusing invitations to parties and dinners. This contributes to a sense of isolation, which is a prominent factor in eating disorders. Other problems include:
- Greater preoccupation with food
- Increased sense of deprivation
- Lowered sense of willpower
- Increased binge eating
What's the Attraction?
Beginning a diet can be a very exciting time. Thoughts of regaining a sense of life and self-respect are powerful incentives, and watching weight begin to drop is intoxicating. We have the sense that we can have what we want -- the things that other people (the healthy, slim ones) have.
Unfortunately, when the weight returns, the sense of self-respect goes away. But the brief taste of something that seemed wonderful is enough to fuel the choice to diet again.
Back to What Causes Eating Disorders
Sources:
Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. "Eating disorders prevention: Parents are key players." Formerly at http://www.anred.com/prev.html (link now defunct). Accessed 15 February 2007.
The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination. Long term diet failure. Accessed 15 February 2007.
Lowe, Michael R., Annunziato, Rachel A. Markowitz, Jessica T. et al. Multiple types of dieting prospectively predict weight gain during the freshman year of college." Appetite 47 (2006): 83-90.
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. General Information. Accessed 15 February 2007.
Tribole, Evelyn and Elyse Resch. Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works. New York: St. Martin's Press; 2003.
