The wildly popular practice of intermittent fasting is associated with several eating disorders in young women, warns a new study by researchers at the University of Toronto.
Among young men, the practice is found more among those who train excessively.
Intermittent fasting consists, as its name suggests, of eating intermittently, for example by fasting for several hours a day or by eating only every other day. Information about this abounds online.
Its followers credit it with multiple health benefits, but Toronto researchers say they are among the first to take an interest in its potential dangers. They sifted through data from some 2,700 adolescents and young adults across the country who participate in the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors.
“I think it’s very interesting and important that we have data on the prevalence of intermittent dieting,” commented Professor Howard Steiger, who heads the Eating Disorders Program at the University Institute of Mental Health. Douglas, of McGill University.
In total, 47% of women, 38% of men and 52% of transgender or gender-unvalued individuals said they had practiced intermittent fasting in the past 12 months. On average, across all three groups, the practice had been adopted for about 100 days over the past year.
The study authors believe their findings should caution health professionals considering recommending intermittent fasting as a weight-loss strategy to their patients, as it could potentially open the door to eating disorders.
In their work, for example, intermittent fasting has been linked to compulsive eating in women, and compensatory behaviors like vomiting and excessive training.
While emphasizing that the adoption of intermittent fasting will not represent a risk factor for everyone developing an eating disorder, Professor Steiger also considers that caution is in order.
“It rings alarm bells for me when I hear people being encouraged to adopt intermittent fasting,” he said. When we encourage a population to adopt a behavior, the people who are vulnerable are those who develop disorders, so yes, that could be the gateway for many vulnerable people. “.
The findings of this study were published by the scientific journal Eating Behaviors.