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Diet Pill Desperation

Some local pharmacies and stores in the Ohio Valley are reporting diet pills being stolen, and pretty regularly. Local pediatricians tell News9 what's in some of these diet pills can really do damage to a growing child. Teens tell News9 the pressure to have the right shape is everywhere they turn.

"I think teen girls have to get to that image to be like Lindsay Lohan, they look up to girls like that," says a local teen.

In fact, in the United States, adolescents and young women account for 90-percent of cases of eating disorders. Some say they'll do anything to lose the weight, including stealing diet pills right off store shelves. Steubenville Walmart store officials tell News9 on average, every week about 3 boxes of diet pills are stolen.

But local pediatricians say they have some serious concerns about these quick-fix pills and the damage they can do to a teen during puberty.

"Taking medicines that increase metabolic rate, you're adding to the problems and putting stress on the heart, these metabolic medicines making your heart worse," says doctor Ananth Rayabhari of Trinity Health System.

There are 2 different kinds of diet pills, one are water based diuretics where essentially a person loses water weight, but the other, and the one doctors worry about in young kids, are pills that speed up metabolism.

"Your body is working harder and burning more calories," says Dr. Rayabhari.

Doctors say diet pills, like Alli, Trimspa, Metabolite and Hoodia, in a young person, can do some real damage to the brain, heart, intestines and muscles. But even with all these potential side effects, teens say kids are still popping them.

"I think instant gratification is definitely what people want," says one teen.

Shelby Zarotney News9

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