More Teens Try to Lose Weight

More U.S. teens, especially girls, have been attempting to lose weight, according to newly analyzed federal survey data.

Results from the 2013-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) indicated that nearly 38% of adolescents said they had attempted to lose weight within the last year, with more girls attempting weight loss than boys from 2013 to 2016 (45.2% vs 30.1%), reported Kendra McDow, MD, MPH, of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues.

Notably, 50.8% of Hispanic teens tried to lose weight, while only 31.8% of non-Hispanic black, 33.1% of non-Hispanic white, and 28.4% of non-Hispanic Asian teens attempted to lose weight, the group reported in an NCHS Data Brief.

In an effort to lose weight, over 50% of teens reported drinking a lot of water, 83.5% exercised, 44.7% tried to eat less junk food or fast food, and 44.6% ate more salads, vegetables, and fruits.

"This is promising because these are recommended lifestyle modification strategies, healthy eating and exercise, so those are really great. It shows that teens are using recommended strategies to lose weight," McDow told MedPage Today.

However, the data also showed 16.5% of teens saying they skipped meals in order to lose weight. McDow pointed to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines discouraging such approaches as unhealthy.

Prior studies have shown that about 24% of U.S. teens tried to lose weight from 2009 to 2010 and that girls are more likely than boys to try to lose weight, the authors noted.

This report should encourage clinicians to continue discussing the importance of healthy habits and a healthy weight and reviewing BMI with their patients, said Stacy Leatherwood, MD, of the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, who was not involved in the study. "It is also important for the physician to understand the motivation behind intended weight loss. Some teens may attempt to lose weight to change their appearance versus for health reasons. This motivation may lead to more extreme practices to achieve a desired weight," Leatherwood told MedPage Today.

Most doctors counsel patients on the importance of exercise and a well-balanced diet, but lack sufficient time, sometimes information, and appropriate resources on how to achieve this, Leatherwood said. Understanding the techniques that teens employ to lose weight may help clinicians better support and counsel their efforts with appropriate referrals to support like dietitians if possible and with healthy lifestyle recommendations, she added.

"More frequent follow-up in the office would also support this effort. Providing this type of support will increase the likelihood of success and reduce the chance of unhealthy dietary practices and behaviors," Leatherwood said.

The NHANES data covered 602 boys and 619 girls, ages 16 to 19, surveyed in the program's 2013–2014 and 2015–2016 cycles. NHANES includes standardized physical exams done in mobile examination centers as well as in-home interviews.

Limitations of the study included that the population was restricted to older adolescents and lacked detailed data on type and intensity of diet modifications and exercise, McDow said. Individuals without BMI data, pregnant females, and individuals who were underweight as indicated by a BMI under the sex and age-specific 5th percentile were excluded.