NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Overweight boys are just as likely as their female peers to try to shed weight at age 11, but seem to stop trying as they get older, Scottish researchers report.

By age 15, only 16% of overweight boys are trying to lose weight, compared with nearly 50% of girls with excess pounds. At age 11, 30% of both boys and girls who are overweight are trying to shed pounds.

Overall, teenage girls were more likely to diet and be concerned about their weight than their male peers, regardless of age and whether the girls were actually overweight.

Over time, the gap between the sexes only widens, Dr. Helen Sweeting of the University of Glasgow in Scotland and her colleague found. Their study, which ended when the teens turned 15, found that, at that age, overweight girls are three times as likely as their overweight male peers to be on a diet, while girls considered to have low weights for their heights were a full 16 times as likely as slim boys to be dieting.

"I wonder if we've lost track a bit about what sort of body is normal, healthy and 'OK,"' Sweeting told Reuters Health. "We hear that being extremely thin isn't good for us--but look how good it is for the models--and we know that being fat isn't good either. But where do we draw the line between what's OK and what isn't?"

She added, "Maybe there needs to be much more emphasis on what's OK, and on the best way to achieve that--a sensible balance of exercise and eating."

Sweeting and her colleague, Patrick West, obtained their results from surveys they collected from students when they were 11, 13 and 15 years old. The researchers re-surveyed the same students each time in order to track changes in their weights and behaviors, and ended up with dieting and health information from 2,196 students submitted at all three survey periods. Sweeting and West report their findings in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The investigators found that girls were more likely than boys to both be concerned about their weight or to be trying to shed pounds at all ages and within all weight groups. The one exception to this finding occurred among overweight girls and boys, who appeared to be equally as likely to be dieting at age 11. The difference between boys and girls in weight concerns and dieting widened significantly over time, the authors report.

Of equal concern, noted Sweeting, was the finding that around one out of six students included in the surveys was classified as overweight.

"That's not good news for their future health, given the strong association between childhood and adult (weight patterns), together with the adult health problems such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and arthritis, which are linked with being overweight," Sweeting said.

Given their future health risks, Sweeting added that overweight teens should worry about their weight and be trying to shed pounds. "For this group, weight concerns aren't inappropriate," she said.

Girls are likely encouraged to lose weight more than their male peers as a result of media images, which can equate extreme thinness with beauty and success, Sweeting said. However, the finding that overweight boys were often less concerned about their weight than overweight girls is somewhat puzzling, she added.

Perhaps, Sweeting suggested, teenaged boys who are bigger than their friends think themselves to be stronger, as well. "A lot of past research has shown that early maturing boys are more athletic and more likely to be chosen as leaders, whereas thin boys and those who go through puberty later are more likely to be perceived as 'childish,' and want to be bigger," she said.

Sweeting added that anecdotal evidence suggests that teens who are have concerns about their weight--justified or not--may be more likely than others to grow up to be adults who are also dissatisfied with their weight. However, she noted, the current study did not examine this question.

SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2002;56:700-701.

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