Vegetarians More Likely to Develop Eating Disorders--yeah, right.

[Lyric]

http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/article/being_vegetarian_is_bad_for_health_999909/

Is being vegetarian bad for one’s health?

Recent study finds that teen vegetarians have a higher risk of developing eating disorders

The word vegetarian is almost analogous to the adjective “kind” to some, seeing as vegetarians are viewed as people who don’t guzzle down some animal flesh or other with every meal. Maybe their kindness all this while is why vegetarians are usually less associated with “calorie-ful” life-threatening diseases such as obesity and diabetes than their meat-eating contemporaries.

Alas, something is amiss in the karmic cycle. A recent study by the American Dietetic Association found that people who are currently vegetarian are more likely to develop eating disorders like binge eating and purging, as compared to non vegetarians.

This is a CLASSIC case of correlation =/= causation. I'd bet that it's true that teen anorexics and bulemics are more likely to become vegetarians, but NOT because of ethical or even health reasons. It's just another thing they do to justify not eating enough. They eat a few pieces of lettuce and claim "vegetarianism" as the reason they don't eat more, but normal vegetarians DON'T sit around eating lettuce leaves and then throwing them back up. These are people using vegetarianism as a tool to justify their disease, not as an ethical or health-conscious lifestyle.

And for the record, I posted this because it's a FARK headline, which means someone will inevitably post it here at some point soon and use it to try and paint vegetarians as people with an "eating disorder." I'd like to just nip that in the bud before it happens.

Correlation =/= causation.

/not a vegetarian, but also not a moran

[Mari333]

1. heh.

my whole family suffers from HBP, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and vascular disease. I dont. and I am the oldest child. I dont eat meat. they do. I am my own case study.

[graywarrior]

2. I worked as a cook at the Kushi Institute for 6 months so

I got to live there and let me tell ya, every one of the staff had a serious food issue.

[AllieB]

15. As a former vegetarian, I can attest to that.

I knew quite a few who had struggled with anorexia/bulimia, and becoming vegan/vegetarian was another method of controlling what went in their mouths.

[graywarrior]

23. Not to mention everyone's eyes ogling everyone else's plate in the

buffet family style dining room.

[DS1]

3. Vegetarianism is the disorder

/got that obligatory remark out the way

[billyoc]

4. I thought vegetarianism WAS an eating disorder.

Thanks, I'll be here all week!(or until my heart explodes) :rofl:

[Lyric]

7. ...

:nuke:

[Mari333]

5. getting my popcorn ready

for the GRRRRR!!!MEAT people.

:popcorn:

[ShortnFiery]

6. I don't know about that but vegetarian teens do tend to be more of a pain in the butt to

cook for when trying to accommodate the rest of the family. :shrug:

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. eating great hunks of raw mastadon

is normal. Fruits and veggies are for wimps:rofl:

[Reterr]

9. Correlation =/= causation

Precisely.

[iamjoy]

10. Yep, I Think Its Correlation

Especially if you believe that some eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, etc) are not just caused by society's pressures to be thin, but that for many eating disorders are the result of a desire for some kind of control.

While I believe many vegetarians turn to it mainly for ethical and/or health reasons, I also believe that for some a desire for control plays some role in it.

If some one is a vegetarian, meals revolve around them and their desires - and if one criticizes that he/she is being insensitive.

[JanMichael]

12. Baloney

Not one of our family or friends have ever had to make a meal that revolves around us. We live in the South, and there are usually enough side dishes of greens, potatoes, sliced tomatoes, etc-- that usually people don't even notice that we aren't eating the meat on the table.

Furthermore, every single restaurant that we have been to with others has had some type of dish that we could eat and enjoy. Again, 99% of the time, most people don't even notice that we choose pasta over steak.

[iamjoy]

17. No Baloney

vegetarians don't eat meat ;)

and perhaps I should have clarified that has been my experience with some vegetarians or vegans in particular. A opportunity for a meal together has to be all about them. Vegans won't always eat pasta because sometimes it is made with egg or dairy. Some may take offense if you suggest they have a salad.

But I never did say all - I said some. While some may make a positive choice for their health and the earth and then leave it at that - others may take it beyond that and use their dietary choices (or convictions) as a means of control.

[MineralMan]

22. That's OK, but if you were coming to a family gathering at

my home, and I knew you were a vegetarian, I'd do more than just supply side dishes. There would be a major vegetarian entree on the table, along with the other entrees. I've done that dozens of times, since my wife's family includes a few vegetarians.

Funny thing is that the vegetarian entree is often as popular as the meat-based ones.

[Warpy]

11. Cart before horse

Teens with eating disorders might gravitate toward extreme diets and strict vegetarianism in a meat eating family with no knowledge of how to obtain proper nutrition is an extreme diet.

Often they're junk food vegetarians and use the fact that Mom cooks with butter or lard as a reason to avoid food at home completely.

Some kids do their reading and do it right. Kids with eating disorders are just going to use it as an excuse to maintain their destructive behavior.

Wise parents need to know how to tell the difference.

[JSK]

13. Vegetarian teens

are wise beyond their years. I wish I hadn't scoffed at the idea when I was a teen.

[Downtown Hound]

14. I've known very few overweight vegetarians or vegans

However, quite the opposite is true for voracious meat eaters that I've known. Me thinks this study is a little biased.

[AllieB]

16. That's funny because I work with some older vegetarians

(in their 40s and 50s) who are soft and pudgy, probably from too may grains and not enough protein. They're quite often sick as well. Protein and fat don't make you fat. Most Europeans would be huge if that were the case. Refined carbs and sugar make you fat. I'm sure the voracious meat eaters you describe also eat a lot of processed/refined crap.

[drm604]

18. It strikes me that people who think a lot about their diet

- enough to change it drastically - are probably more likely to develop eating disorders than those who eat whatever's in front of them. That's not to say that thinking about your diet is a bad thing, it's not. Nor am I saying the vegetarianism is a bad thing, it's not.

I'm simply saying that if you think about your diet a lot, you're at least slightly more likely to take it to far and go over the edge compared to those who don't. However, not thinking about your diet has it's own, possibly greater, risks.

[SOS]

19. Study funded by.....

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/home_10575_ENU_HTML.htm

[MineralMan]

20. Eating is biological. Eliminating an entire class of foods

is purely intellectual.

[Horse with no Name]

21. NEVER underestimate the power of the beef lobby

With food prices skyrocketing...more and more people are more likely to go meatless. Gotta scare the shit out of them so they don't.