Healthy Ways Of Losing And Gaining Weight / Question
Published: September 30, 2002
Dear TeenHealthFX,
I am 5' 2'' and I weight about 100 pounds, I am trying to lose weight mainly because I am a ballet dancer and generally dancers aren't supposed to be fat or anything. I don't want to be anorexic or bulimic...those things just seem so impossible to me. However, I was wondering if you could give me some advice on losing weight, I read some things about losing weight, but all you basically said was look at the food guide pyramid, but that's not helping me. I count calories and carbohydrates. I generally try to stay around 1000 calories and about 75 grams of carbohydrates, will this work...I have lost some weight but I am still not satisfied. Can you also tell me some low carb foods that I can eat but that are still healthy for me? Thanks so much!
Signed: Trying to lose it
Dear Trying to lose it,
TeenHealthFX is worried about you. You are NOT fat; in fact, your body mass index is too low. This means that you are already too thin and should not lose any more weight. Sports such as ballet dancing, figure skating and gymnastics focus on attaining a specific body type, which is often not a healthy one for growing girls or boys. Your teenage years are when your body needs lots of nutrition so it can grow and develop normally. And, the food guide pyramid is the best way to make sure that you are getting all of the right things. Eating as little as 1000 calories a day and limiting your carbohydrates could dangerously slow your metabolism.
Low carbohydrate diets, like most other very restrictive eating plans, do not really work in the long run because they are very difficult to stick with and deny your body certain nutrients, vitamins and minerals that it needs to grow and mature. These kinds of diets are an especially bad idea for teenagers. Few studies have been done on how low-carbohydrate diets affect a child or teenager's development, so there's no way to know if they are safe. Some research has shown that high fat and low carbohydrate intakes during adolescence are thought to increase the future risk of cardiovascular disease and perhaps some types of cancer. In addition, low carbohydrate intake usually won't support exercise for more than 20 to 30 minutes, and your athletic performance can suffer by eating so few carbohydrates.
Eating disorders are not always "black and white," and while you say that you do not want to be anorexic or bulimic, obsessing about calories and body weight can be a sign that an eating disorder is starting. In addition, while anorexia and bulimia are two of the more common, medically diagnosed eating disorders, some people have disordered eating and/or body image distortions, but not a fully developed eating disorder. And, striving for an ideal that is not always attainable, or even realistically possible, can lead some people to develop obsessions and unhealthy behaviors that they never planned on acquiring.
TeenHealthFX encourages you to talk to your doctor about this. He or she might send you to a nutritionist who can recommend healthy food choices that will help your body grow during these all-important teenage years. If you live in northern
Signed: TeenHealthFX
One in four teenage girls in the 
