Women who had gone on two or more diets during the study were five times as likely to become overweight.
"If children are regularly eating high-calorie foods or sugary drinks then they are more likely to become overweight.
Girls who labeled themselves as dieters in early adolescence were three times more likely to become overweight over the next four years.
Stress was a constant of the job, and a lack of exercise and a bad diet had led her to become overweight.
Julie Sharp, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "Overweight teenagers are more likely to become overweight adults at higher risk of cancer.
Children born by caesarean section may be more likely to become overweight or obese in adulthood, according to a new review of evidence.
The study, published on Monday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, found that the heaviest students were more likely to become overweight or obese adults.
We're slighted, condemned, and criticized – and NOW we're told that a cold-virus as well as certain gut flora mentioned above – can also cause a person to become overweight.
Participants in the San Antonio Heart Study who drank more than 21 diet drinks per week were twice as likely to become overweight or obese as people who didn't drink diet soda.
Relative to chronic dieters, people who eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full are less likely to become overweight, maintain more stable weights over time and spend less time thinking about food.
The scientists found that obesity rose in the first three cohorts in the 1980s: they all started to become overweight at around the same time, even though they were different ages.
