As a parent, if you become aware that your daughter has irregular periods, you'll want to dig a bit deeper to see whether or not there is also any indication of vomiting as a means of weight control...
Teenage girls who vomit one to three times a month to control weight increase their risk of having irregular menstrual periods by 60 percent, a new study reports; those who vomit once a week or more triple their risk. When researchers restricted the analysis only to girls of normal weight, the association was even stronger.
Researchers analyzed self-reported data from 2,791 girls ages 14 to 19 nationwide. Almost 9 percent reported vomiting for weight control one to three times a month; an additional 3.1 percent vomited once a week or more. The report appears in the May issue of The Journal of Adolescent Health.
S. Bryn Austin, the lead author and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard, said that about two million teenage girls a year vomit for weight control. “A girl may keep the vomiting a secret, but may talk about her irregular menses. If she does, this presents an opportunity to intervene.”
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/health/research/27patt.html?
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