Severe Dieting May Cause Thinning Of Bones

Contrary to the general thinking that increased fat in the body leads to cardiovascular diseases that it has been proved to be necessary for increasing the bone strength. The British researchers reported that teenage girls who are on severe dieting schedules to appear slim are at higher risk of thinning of their bones.

The Bristol University team undertaken a long term study on 4000 young people aged about 15 years and studied their bone density, and shape and compared with their body fat mass. They conclude the with the following conclusions

• Body fat mass is important for bone development.
• Higher levels of body fat is useful for development of thicker bones in the body particularly in girls.
• Increase in the fat mass in the body by 5 kgs is associated with 8% of increase in the bone density of lower leg bone.
• Fat is necessary for bone development in females.

They concluded that building up of bone strength is very important particularly in women as they tend to develop osteoporosis (thinning of bones) in their later part of their life. Therefore young people should be cautioned not to undertake severe dieting due to the risk of developing thinning of bones. Article by Dr.G.B.Haranath

Related Stories

• No Related Stories