Experts warn of emerging 'dieting disorder' linked to rising diet-pill use in Norway

ISTANBUL

Norwegian specialists working with eating disorders say they are seeing a new group of patients struggling to stop taking weight-loss medications, warning that the surge in diet-pill use is creating what they describe as a new type of eating disorder.

“We get many people who come to us after using diet pills for a while and who say: ‘I can’t control this anymore, but I’m afraid to stop because I will gain weight,’” psychologist Bente Sommerfeldt told public broadcaster NRK.

Sommerfeldt, who heads the private treatment center Villa Sult, said the phenomenon has become so widespread that professionals are calling it a “dieting disorder.”

Norway’s consumption of medications for overweight and obesity has risen sharply.

According to the Norwegian Pharmacy Association, Norwegians are on track to spend 2.6 billion kroner (approximately $276 million) out of pocket on weight-loss products this year, 1.5 billion kroner more than two years ago.

Diet-pill use has also reached the world of sports, prompting concern among doctors and athletes.

Sommerfeldt said she is not surprised by the trend, noting that society often seeks “one diagnosis with one solution,” such as medication, without recognizing the risk of creating new health problems.

She stressed that binge eating remains the most common eating disorder and that one in four Norwegians struggles with overweight or obesity.

She warned that weight-loss drugs place too much emphasis on the number on the scale, rather than the broader picture of a patient’s physical and mental health.

“I think we need to move away from the numbers. We must start asking people how they feel,” she said.

Health Director Cathrine M. Lofthus said authorities take these concerns seriously.

“We should work to ensure that this is primarily about a healthy diet and physical activity,” she said, acknowledging that society has made it “difficult to make good choices” for health.