Harmful Effects of Crash Dieting
Written by Jenna LoCastro on April 10, 2006
Every girl wants to look her best before a big event. Often, dropping a few pounds makes a big difference.
That’s why freshman Kate Glass decided to buy some diet pills before her senior prom last year.
According to an article by Mike Adams in News Target, a daily website that provides health information, Glass is just one of the 34 percent of young women who take diet pills in order to aid weight loss.
Many young people are beginning to pop diet pills in hopes of shedding pounds faster, rather than eating healthy and exercising.
Over the counter pills such as Green Tea, Phase 2, Stacker and Trimspa are among the most popular brands.
Although diet pills may be effective in weight loss, there are devastating side affects if not properly used or prescribed.
According to www.teenhealthfx.com,
a website that offers information on health, relationships and sexuality, diet pills can cause long-term and short-term side effects including heart problems, high blood pressure, increased risk of stroke, shakiness, malnutrition, and inability to concentrate.
Until recently, a drug called ephedra was also found in diet pills and energy enhancers.
According to the article, "Ephedra and Energy Drinks on College Campuses,” "Before being banned, ephedra was marketed largely to college athletes to increase strength, dynamic power, energy, endurance levels, alertness and perception," said researcher Daniel Ari Kapner of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention
Because this drug can induce insomnia, tremors, nerve damage, rapid or irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and hypertension, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned ephedra as an energy enhancer and diet aid in 2004, Kapner explained.
Even with all the health risks associated with diet pills, people seem to ignore the warnings.
"I think taking diet pills is the same deal as smoking cigarettes. If you’re going to smoke, you’re going to do it no matter what restrictions are placed on them," Glass said.
"If people are going to take diet pills, there’s not much that is going to stop them."
Others believe that people who take diet pills do not understand the consequences.
"I don’t think people realize they could do harm. Yet then again, that’s typical of people our age. They think ‘Oh, that won’t happen to me,’" sophomore Amber Atkinson said.
Dieters who take supplements have other motives such as sport restrictions.
Athletes whose sport demands strict weight regulations like gymnasts, ice skaters and wrestlers, sometimes use diet pills to help them cut weight faster.
Sophomore wrestler Kevin Keough takes a diet supplement called Metabolife, which helps him lose weight for wrestling.
Keough, who explained that other wrestlers also take diet pills, said that taking them helps to speed up his metabolism, enabling him to lose weight at a faster rate.
"I think they’re effective because I also exercise a lot when I’m taking them and that’s something you have to do if you want them to work," Keough said.
According to diet-blog.com, a website offering diet information, an age restriction was placed on the purchasing of diet pills in August of last year.
Over 274 supermarket chains have placed a voluntary ban on the sale of supplements to individuals under 18 years old.
"It’s good that they did this because anyone under 18 isn’t capable of making rational decisions," said Atkinson.
"They just want a quick solution without looking ahead to the future consequences. But some people under 18 may have tried everything possible and want to give it a try. It’s a hard choice to make."
Although the FDA and other government sources are trying to control the dangerous effects of diet pills, many people, especially young adults, continue to use them.
Atkinson said, "I think the only way to truly learn is to be affected by it [the harmful effect] or know someone who has been."
© 2003 The Carroll News, John Carroll University
powered by Insivia Technologies, LLC
