Warning Signs of Your Teen Using Diet Pills

Teen girls are famous for taking drastic measures to copy the wiafishly thin figures of starlets like Nicole Richie and Mary-Kate Olsen. Just how drastic? A new University of Minnesota study found that nearly 20 percent of 19-year-old girls use diet pills to trim pounds.

Jump to the list of common diet drugs your teens can easily purchase over-the-counter.

Laxatives:
Laxatives leave you feeling "emptied out," but it's an illusion. Since calories are absorbed before they reach the intestines -- the organ where laxatives do their thing -- they have little effect on weight. Ex-Lax and other products containing bisacodyl or senna are prime candidates for abuse. Chronic use can cause fatigue and cramping. When used in conjunction with water shedding diuretic drugs, they can trigger electrolyte imbalances and severe dehydration that result in heart and kidney damage.

Warning Signs for Parents:
A teen who's experimenting with diet pills may:
1. Frequently complain about being fat (even if she's not)
2. Skip meals, restrict calories or practice other obsessive, food-related behaviors
3. Spend a lot of time in the bathroom
4. Experience frequent weight fluctuations, mood changes and physical symptoms such as dry skin, hair loss or bad breath
5. Experience dizzy spells, high blood pressure and other serious health side effects

If you suspect a problem, Neumark-Sztainer recommends addressing it in a concerned and nonjudgmental way with your teen.

"Let her know that you're concerned because of specific behaviors you've seen," she says.

A trip to the doctor for a head-to-toe physical and an expert opinion is also a good idea. And Neumark-Sztainer's book, "I'm, Like, So Fat!" (Guilford Press, 2005), offers advice on diet pill abuse and other important teen dieting issues.

Neporent is a certified member of the American Council on Exercise and the author of "The Fat-Free Truth" and "The Ultimate Body: 10 Perfect Workouts for Women."

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