Diet pills put teens at risk

IS YOUR teenage daughter popping pills to shed weight? Beware, she may be at increased risk of harming her hormones and growth as well as her mental health, researchers warn.

Their findings showed diet pills were unsafe for all ages, but especially for teenagers due to the presence of toxic chemicals in the supplements.

These pills interfere with the body’s systems and result in nutritional deficiencies, particularly of iron and calcium, the researchers said.

“In growing children and teenagers, even a marginal reduction in energy intake can be associated with growth deceleration,” dailymail. co.uk quoted Canadian Paediatric Society researchers as saying.

Weight loss pills are advertised as the quick solution to shedding pounds and obtaining the perfect figure, but they come with potentially dangerous side effects, including an increased heart rate, fainting, unusual bleeding and heart attacks.

Diet pills can also cause complications and, in extreme cases, they can rip apart the stomach lining and even lead to death, the study showed.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota said a startling 63% of teenage girls use “unhealthy weight control behaviours” to maintain a slim shape.

About 22% of teenage females use “very unhealthy weight control behaviours”.

The use of diet pills in teenage girls had a significant spike in a 5-year span, jumping from 7.5% to 14.2% in 2006, they claimed.

Instead of turning to diet pills, exercise, changing eating habits, drinking more water and meditation are other healthy ways to lose weight, researchers said. – IANS