Obese teens can crash diet safely if monitored by a dietitian, study finds

Fears over the effect of rapid weight loss on physical and mental wellbeing of young people said to be unjustified

Short-term, very low-calorie diets for obese teenagers are safe as long as they are closely monitored by an experienced dietitian, according to researchers in Australia whose work will be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice this spring..

The study, by scientists based at Sydney University, also revealed that many adolescents involved in the investigation thought the diets were an acceptable way to lose weight - despite experiencing side-effects that included fatigue, headache, irritability, constipation and nausea.