Flickors bruk av och attityd till illegala viktminskningspreparat. : En enkätundersökning riktad till flickor i årskurs tre på gymnasiet.

Sammanfattning: Newspaper articles and media have shown that the use of illegal weight loss compounds, such as ephedrine and Melanotan, is becoming more common among adolescent girls, who are at risk of becoming a new group of addicts. These girls are rarely aware of the risks that the use of these compounds entails and the consequences that could adversely affect their bodies, mentally and physically.   The aim of this paper was to investigate the use of and attitudes towards illegal weight loss compounds amongst girls in year three, at Swedish upper secondary schools. In order to do that, a questionnaire was sent out to 120 girls in five different high schools, with varying college preparatory and vocational program directions.   My research shows that the use of illegal weight loss compounds, particularly ephedrine, was found among girls in year three, at upper secondary schools. Seven percent of the girls claimed they use, primarily, ephedrine. This result exceeds earlier studies findings on boys' use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS). Throughout the survey a sense of how common the use of and attitudes towards illegal weight loss compounds were amongst these girls was formed. The girls' critical views of their bodies permeate my research, whereas almost half of all girls are experiencing dissatisfaction with their body weight and the majority of the girls want to lose body weight. Regarding the girls' attitudes towards the use of illegal weight loss compounds, one result accounted that almost half of all girls could think of using one if it guaranteed them to be thinner. My research also shows that more information needs to be targeted towards young girls; in order to make them conscious about the dangers of these illegal weight loss compounds.