In a new study, researchers found that women who use diet pills and laxatives for weight control had higher odds of having an eating disorder diagnosis within one to three years than those who did not use these products.
The research was conducted by led by a team from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital.
It is known that diet pills and laxatives when used for weight control, can be very harmful substances.
The use of over-the-counter diet pills or laxatives is not recommended by health care providers as a healthy way to manage weight and can have severe health consequences, including high blood pressure and liver and kidney damage.
In the study, the team wanted to find out if these products could lead to an eating order diagnosis.
They analyzed data from 10,058 women and girls ages 14 to 36 who participated in the U.S.-based Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) from 2001 to 2016.
They found that among participants without an eating disorder, 1.8% of those who used diet pills during the past year reported receiving a first eating disorder diagnosis during the next one to three years compared to 1% of those who did not use the products.
They also found that among these participants, 4.2% of those who used laxatives for weight control received a subsequent first eating disorder diagnosis compared to 0.8% of those who did not use these products for weight control.
The researchers called for policies that restrict access to these products, including banning the sale of diet pills to minors.
They say the findings parallel what they’ve known to be true with tobacco and alcohol: starting harmful substances can set young people on a path to worsening problems, including serious substance abuse disorder.
One author of the study is S. Bryn Austin, a professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
The study is published in the American Journal of Public Health.
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