Chronic dieting in active women: what are the health consequences?

Evidence suggests that there is ever increasing pressure on American women to be thin. This pressure drives women to want to be thinner than what might be realistically achieved or required for good health. Our goal as nutrition and health professionals is to help women achieve and maintain a healthy body weight throughout the life-cycle. This includes helping young females accept their body size and shape as well and placing more emphasis on health and fitness than on weight in this population. This process begins with the identification of what constitutes a healthy body weight for a particular individual based on genetic, physiological, social, and psychological factors. In addition, it should be a weight that can be realistically maintained while keeping risk factors for chronic disease low. Table 1 outlines some strategies for helping individuals to identify and maintain a healthy body weight.