Most girls in their early teens are scared of putting on weight or getting fat, British researchers warned today.
Researchers found that 60% of girls, aged 13, were worried about this and more than 11% were "extremely" worried.
The findings are the latest from a Bristol University study of more than 7,000 children born in the 1990s.
They also showed that 40% of boys had concerns about putting on weight.
Researchers found 26% of girls and 14% of boys had sought to restrict their eating in the previous three months by skipping meals, fasting or throwing away food.
The findings have been reported in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
The researchers said the findings highlighted the risk of teenagers developing eating disorders – and that behaviour linked to disorders was "not unusual."
Researcher Dr Nadia Micali said: "We have found that behaviours typical of an eating disorder are more common in early adolescence than previously thought, and not just in girls but also in boys, and that they are associated with a range of social and psychological problems in the child.
"Most importantly, we found a connection with certain behaviours and higher weight two years later, which has important public health implications for the prevention of obesity.
"We are far from being able to identify boys and girls who have unhealthy weight control behaviours and binge-eating early, but this is crucial to prevent full-blown eating disorders and other negative social and emotional problems."
Micali, N et al. Frequency and Patterns of Eating Disorder Symptoms in Early Adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health 17 December 2013
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