What motivates dieting among teenage girls?

Answer 1

The number of reasons why teen girls diet vary greatly. There are several reasons that I have discovered working in high school classrooms: 1. Cultural influences -- may encourage one to lose weight to be a certain size. This may also be true for cultures that encourage females to gain weight to reach a certain size. 2. Peers - teasing or poking fun because of weight or having a certain expectation from a group of friends may impact food choices. I have found that even among teens, if a food isn't "cool" by the group leader, then all of the other teen girls will not eat that food. 3. Media -- impacts dieting habits of teens. Media images are often unrealistic -- they do not reflect the majority of the population. For most teens, a 24-inch waist person cannot eat 2,500-calorie meals two or three times a day and stay that size. Some of the most common fast-food meals can fall between 2000 - 2600 calories. Not only will they gain weight but because they do not look like the portrayed image, depression and eating disorders may be the results. 4. Fashion -- I have been in stores that sell teen clothes. Many times, the sizes of clothes are downsized. For example, a large-sized skirt may be designed to fit someone with a 25-inch waist and a small-sized skirt fits someone with a 20-inch waist. So if a person's waistline is greater than 25 inches, then she would wear an extra-large. Normally, a 25-inch waist can fit a small or medium. 5. Food availability -- not everyone has access to healthy food choices. Sometimes, folks must eat what is available to them and what they can afford. 6. Family life -- home can be one of the most influencial places to learn about eating. If a parent has eating disorders, they can easily be passed on to family members. 7. Self image -- what one thinks of herself can also influence how she eats. If she perceives herself to have too much body fat, then she will attempt to diet and lose what she thinks is there. 8. Health - some teen girls may diet because a health professional may have told them they need to lose weight or the fat/cholesterol levels in their blood may be too high, etc. There are others but I think these are the common reasons why females diet.