Intermittent fasting is all the trend today as people follow this method to realize health advantages. But a latest study suggests that there could also be possible negative consequences of fasting intermittently.

The study, published within the journal Eating Behaviors, found intermittent fasting in adolescents and younger population can result in behaviors and psychopathology of eating disorders and other dangerous behaviors.

There are alternative ways of intermittent fasting. One is to fast on two non-consecutive days of the week. One other is to fast for certain periods of time. An example of such a intermittent fasting is the 16/8 method, which involves fasting for 16 hours and eating only in an 8-hour window.

“With proper guidance from a registered dietitian, a client might be guided into selecting well-balanced foods throughout the approach to 16:8; I like this method since it’s mainly eating three meals inside a workday. A chronic dieter may skip meals or avoid many good foods,” Blanca Garcia, RDN, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian nutritionist and nutrition specialist with the Measurement Instrument Database for Social Sciences (MIDSS), not involved within the study, told Medical News Today.

Some evidence suggests intermittent fasting aids in weight reduction. However the technique has its pitfalls.

The researchers found a relationship between intermittent fasting and eating disorders amongst adolescents and young adults.

For the study, researchers used data from the Canadian Study of Adolescent Health Behaviors. The study included 2,762 adolescents and young adults, including women, men, and transgender or gender non-conforming individuals, in line with the outlet.

“IF [Intermittent fasting] was highly common among the many sample, including 48% of girls, 38% of men, and 52% of transgender/gender non-conforming participants, and participants fasted for, on average, 100 days previously 12 months,” Study creator Kyle T. Ganson, assistant professor and Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work with the University of Toronto, Canada, said, the outlet reported.

The participants were asked to reply questionnaires geared toward analyzing behaviors and psychopathology related to eating disorders. The questionnaire focused on facets equivalent to participants’ dietary restraints and any concerns they’d about weight, shape, and eating. Also, eating disorder behaviors, like binge eating, compulsive exercise, and laxative use were noted in participants.

“Amongst all groups (men, women, and transgender individuals), any engagement in IF previously 12 months was related to greater eating disorder attitudes and behaviors,” Ganson explained.

“Moreover, amongst women, specifically, IF was related to all eating disorder behaviors, including binge eating, vomiting, laxative use, and compulsive exercise, while amongst men, IF was related to compulsive exercising,” Ganson added.

This study foreshadows, “IF could also be problematic and related to severe and harmful eating disorder attitudes and behaviors,” Ganson said, and added that “healthcare professionals need to pay attention to these potentially correlated behaviors, in addition to understand contemporary dietary trends like IF which are commonly discussed amongst young people, particularly on social media.”