[Dieting among girls from Hordaland]

Dieting is highly prevalent among girls and women. The purpose of this article is to study the stability of dieting in a cohort of young females from age 13 until age 21, and to relate their dieting behaviour to their body mass index.

Participants took part in the Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study. In 1990, a representative sample of 13-year-old school children from Hordaland County were invited to participate. A total of 414 girls participated at baseline, and 253 (61%) also participated at ages 15, 18 and 21 years. Height, weight and attempts to loose weight were collected through self-reports.

At age 14, 40% reported dieting during the past year; the proportion stayed stable with increasing age. Dieting at later ages was much more prevalent in girls who had dieted at age 14 than in those who had not. In the 13 to 21 year cohort, 18% reported dieting on all the three main measuring points. While these girls had a higher body mass index than their non-dieting peers, only 30% of them could be characterised as overweight.

Dieting is highly prevalent among adolescent girls and a stable feature in the life of many of them.