New figures showing that large numbers of teenage girls are taking diet pills are likely reflective of the situation in Ireland, according to leading dietician.

A new international study, published in the JAMA Network Open journal, has found that almost one-in-10 teenage girls around the world have taken diet pills in the last year.

The study finds that diet pills are the most commonly used weight loss product used by adolescents, followed by laxatives and diuretics.

The paper examined 90 studies involving more than 600,000 children under the age of 18.

In all, just over one-in-20 children and teens had taken non-prescription diet aids, with girls more likely than boys to take them.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, dietician Sarah Keogh said the findings are very probably reflective of the situation in Ireland.

“I mean we don't have data in Ireland,” he said. “Probably the last study that looked this was in 2014, but I'd say this does reflect it.

“Now this particular study looked at studies on diet pills over the last 40 years, so it's looking over quite a long period, but we are seeing fairly consistently, adolescents - both boys and girls, so one-in-10 girls and one-in-20 boys - using diet pills in this study.

“That would be reflected in practise that dietitians are seeing, certainly, at the moment, in Ireland.”

Close up of diet pills. Image: Kiyoshi Takahase Segundo / Alamy

Ms Keogh said there are a range of over-the-counter diet pills available in Ireland – some of which are more harmful than others.

“I mean, the caffeine ones would be some of the most common ones that are marketed as diet pills,” she said.

“Certainly, particularly from this study, there are adolescents being admitted to hospitals in the US with extremely high heart rates because they've been taking these weight loss pills, which are basically caffeine pills.

“Can I say, they don't help you lose weight. Like this is one of the things with these pills is you're going to take them, but effectively they're going to make very little difference.

“You know we have some specific treatments around weight that are very effective, but they're on prescription so teenagers are not accessing those.

“What they are accessing is things that are basically diet pills or pills that have different kinds of fibres in them or, you know, things like apple cider vinegar and you know things that are potentially dangerous.”

The dietician said anyone worried about their weight should talk to a registered dietician.

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