Low-Carbohydrate Diet Good for Overweight Girls?

A low-carbohydrate diet may help prepubescent girls avoid some risks associated with obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

A reduction in dietary carbohydrates improved various metabolic indicators in overweight African-American girls even in the absence of weight-loss, according to their findings published online Dec. 1, 2011, in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

The research team placed 26 obese African-American girls ages 9-14 on one of two diets. One diet drew 43 percent of its calories from carbohydrates, and the other drew 57 percent of calories from carbohydrates. After five weeks, the lower-carb group showed a reduction in lipids, such as triglycerides and cholesterol, along with better glucose control and insulin response and an improvement in reproductive hormones.

“Our goal was to understand better the effects of a low- or high-carbohydrate diet on girls before puberty, an important time in a young girl’s physical development,” said Krista Casazza, Ph.D., R.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences in the UAB School of Health Professions and first author on the study. “There is evidence that the prepubescent years are vitally important for young girls in terms of body composition and the development of good bone density.”

Casazza says that a diet high in carbohydrates sets off a metabolic cascade of events, such as an increase in blood serum glucose and insulin and an increase of lipids. These events are associated with an elevated risk of obesity, with all of its implications of increased risk of heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

“Understanding the role carbohydrates play in children’s development is important,” Casazza says. “If we can decrease exposure to the risk factors for disease at an early age, perhaps we can reduce the cumulative risk associated with these diseases over time.”

Low-Carbohydrate Diets Many promoters of dietary schemes would have us believe that a special substance or combination of foods will automatically result in weight reduction. That's simply not true. To lose weight, you must eat less, or exercise more, or do both.

There are about 3,500 calories in a pound of body weight. To lose one pound a week, you must consume about 500 fewer calories per day than you metabolize. Most fad diets, if followed closely, will result in weight loss—as a result of caloric restriction. But they are usually too monotonous and are sometimes too dangerous for long-term use. Moreover, dieters who fail to adopt better exercise and eating habits will regain the lost weight—and possibly more. My advice to people who are considering a low-carbohydrate diet is not to try it on their own by reading a book but to seek supervision from a physician who can monitor what they do.