When Losing Weight Is Bad For You

Almost every medical expert agrees that losing weight can improve your health. But under certain circumstances, researchers have found that dropping pounds can leave you with new health complications.

A study at the Mayo Clinic demonstrates that obese teenagers who lose weight risk developing eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia. And these eating disorders are not getting treated, because doctors and family members are too obsessed with helping the teens get their weight down.

“Given research that suggests early intervention promotes best chance of recovery, it is imperative that these children and adolescents’ eating disorder symptoms are identified and intervention is offered before the disease progresses,” says researcher Leslie Sim.

At least 6 percent of teens suffer from eating disorders. More than 55 percent of high school girls and 30 percent of boys have disordered eating symptoms. These unhealthy weight-loss strategies include excessive fasting, abuse of diet pills, vomiting, laxatives and binge eating.

Sin warns that these types of eating problems, when left untreated, can be life-threatening.