Is Teen Vegetarianism an Eating Disorder?
Many adolescents who adopt vegetarian lifestyles may be engaging in unhealthy eating behaviors, according to new a study published by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
The study, led by nutritionist Ramona Robinson-O'Brien, an assistant professor at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota, sought to “examine characteristics of current and former adolescent and young adult vegetarians and investigate the relationships between vegetarianism, weight, dietary intake, and weight-control behaviors.”
Robinson-O’Brien and her team discovered that vegetarian teens were more likely than others to have healthy intakes of fruits, vegetables and fat, but that “current vegetarians may be at increased risk for binge eating with loss of control, while former vegetarians may be at increased risk for extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors.”
The team went on to conclude that “it would be beneficial for clinicians to inquire about current and former vegetarian status when assessing risk for disordered eating behaviors.”
Are vegetarians healthier? See the Opposing Views debate.
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Teens do have high rates of eating disorders, and some of those kids with disordered eating behaviors may also adopt vegetarianism , because they desire to eat in a healthy manner, even though they have difficulty discerning what healthy eating consists in. But that does not make vegetarianism inherently unhealthy. If anything, I'd be glad to know that at least these kids are obtaining better quality nutrition in the food they are choosing to eat. If they starve or binge on meat and dairy, they will be equally ill, and probably have a poorer nutritional profile overall.