Teenage girls who diet more likely to take up smoking

Recent research out of Florida has found that teenage girls who start dieting are nearly twice as likely to start smoking on a frequent basis. This compared with girls who are not dieting at all.

Is smoking in this young female population due to replacing food with some other pleasure? Perhaps. Interestingly, teenage boys who tried dieting but who gave up on it are at the largest risk for taking up smoking. Talk about opposites, yes?

The study was performed to see if a desire to lose weight was an important factor in the decision to start smoking. With so many teenage-focused media garbage these days portraying teen girls are super-thin and bubbly to a fault, no wonder so many of those girls who are influenced turn up smoking at the same time.