Diet or Disorder? It's A Thin Line Researchers have found that stringent dieting can play a key role in triggering eating disorders. But sometimes it's difficult to tell when a person crosses over the line between a healthy weight loss program to an out-of-control problem. How can you tell the difference between normal dieting and a developing eating disorder? Daily Calories Too Low Stringent "starvation" diets are dangerous and can cause damage to muscles and organs, particularly the heart. Furthermore, extreme diets can trigger the body to enter starvation mode and make it more difficult to lose weight. How many calories are safe in a weight loss diet? A rough rule of thumb -- calculate the number of calories based on the target weight times 100. For example if the goal is to reach and maintain 125 pounds, then your daily caloric intake should be 1,250 calories per day. Whatever the weight goal, a diet should include at least 1,000 calories a day unless closely supervised by a doctor. Unbalanced Diet We've all heard of the fad diets that have you eating only eggs and grapefruit, or only carbohydrates, or no carbohydrates. The safest, most effective approach to eating is to follow the food pyramid recommendations from the National Institute of Health - just have smaller servings. Even with a weight loss diet, a person needs a balance of fruits and vegetables, fats, dairy products, proteins, and carbohydrates to stay healthy. Rapid Weight Loss Research has shown that a healthy rate of weight loss is 2-4 pounds per week. While it is possible to lose weight more rapidly, you're less likely to keep the weight off in the long term. Severe dieting leaves the dieter feeling deprived and seems to promote the urge to binge. Unending or "Yo-Yo" Dieting A weight loss diet should be structured so that the dieter reaches their goal weight and maintains that weight with small fluctuations. Extreme weight swings or constant, on-going weight loss diets are warning signs that there may be abnormal eating patterns developing. Dieting Too Young Research shows that more than 90 percent of those afflicted with eating disorders are adolescents at the time the eating disorder began. One reason that girls in this age group are vulnerable to eating disorders is their tendency to go on strict diets to achieve an "ideal" figure. Peer pressure to be thin also plays a role. The younger a person is when beginning weight loss diets, the greater their chance of developing an eating disorder. If you're concerned that you or someone you care about may have gone beyond "dieting" and be suffering an eating disorder, take the Eating Disorder ID Quiz, learn what to do if there is a problem and how to get help.     ABOUT THIS PROGRAM | UNDERSTANDING EATING DISORDERS WHEN IT'S SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT | TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO LEARN MORE | DISORDERED EATING MAIN PAGE BACK TO HEALTHWORKS | RETURN TO TV HOME PAGE © 1999 Prairie Public Broadcasting, Inc.