Monday, 13 April 2009

• A Response To: "Vegetarianism is a Teen Eating Disorder Now!"

  
  

  
  One of my pet peeves is when popular media misrepresents a study as being far more controversial than it actually is.  I realize it makes for better news and all, but what about accuracy?  Before we all get in a tizzy, what about actually reading the source material? 
  
  Let's look at the Healthkicker post on teen vegetarians.  The title exclaims "Vegetarianism is a Teen Eating Disorder Now!"  The post goes on to say that "New studies and research are pointing towards believing that vegetarianism is a new teen eating disorder-fad," then cites the author's experience as a 22 year old vegetarian who does not have an eating disorder.  It ends with a those-crazy-scientists spiel about "doctors and scientists making it into a huge thing" and people being overly critical about nutrition and healthy diet.
  
  Most of the comments, naturally, are along the lines of "WTF this is ridiculous scientists are stupid I'm a teen vegetarian and I don't have an eating disorder I HATE FAKE TEEN VEGETARIANS they're just trying to diagnose everybody I resent that there's nothing wrong with being vegetarian!"  And I get it --if the study had really said that, I would be shocked at the absurdity of it too. 
  
  Thing is, if you go back to the original study --or even if you go back to the TIME article it was mentioned in --the authors NEVER claim that vegetarianism is an eating disorder.  I see where the confusion might come from, due to the TIME article's misleading title, but if you read the actual article instead of just the title, there's nothing too surprising or controversial about it.
  
  

  "...a new study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association suggests that another common teen fad, vegetarianism, isn't always healthy. Instead, it seems that a significant number of kids experiment with a vegetarian diet as a way to mask an eating disorder, since it's a socially acceptable way to avoid eating many foods and one that parents tend not to oppose."
  

  
  Notice how it says teens use a vegetarian diet to mask an eating disorder -- not that the vegetarian diet itself is an eating disorder.  Really, is anybody surprised?  If we go to the study itself, the authors end with this statement:
  

  "In summary, adolescent and young adult vegetarians may experience the health benefits associated with increased fruit and vegetable intake and young adults attain the added benefit of decreased risk for overweight and obesity. However, vegetarians may be at increased risk for disordered eating behaviors, such as binge eating and unhealthful weight-control behaviors.

  Study results indicate that it would be beneficial for clinicians to ask adolescents and young adults about their current and former vegetarian status when assessing risk for disordered eating behaviors. Furthermore, when guiding adolescent and young adult vegetarians in proper nutrition and meal planning (31), it may also be important to investigate an individual's motives for choosing a vegetarian diet."

  They're not saying that vegetarianism is bad or that all vegetarians have eating disorders, and they're certainly not saying vegetarianism itself is an eating disorder!  They're merely pointing out that data suggests higher rates of unhealthy eating behavior in younger vegetarians or former vegetarians.  If this is the case, then it makes perfect sense for doctors to keep it in mind as a risk factor. 
  
  See?  When you take the time to actually read studies for yourself, they're rarely as controversial as they appear to be on the surface.
  
  Why do people overlook actual facts of a study?
  
  
  

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