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Adolescents Using Diet Pills and Other Sham Weight Loss Products

January 11, 2024

What: A massive analysis that looked at over 90 studies and nearly 605,000 participants found that almost 1 in 10 adolescents have used “ineffective and potentially harmful nonprescribed weight-loss products in their lifetime.” Those products included diuretics, laxatives, and diet pills taken without a prescription. Girls were far more likely to use these products, and diet pills were the most common.

Why it matters: There are potential long-term negative health consequences that can come with using (and especially misusing) these products, especially at such a young age.

Source: JAMA Network Open

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