“If the two behaviors (smoking and extreme dieting) co-occur in adolescents,

harmful health effects may be significantly worsened, endangering the

health of youths who are still physically and mentally developing” (Seo &
Jiang, 2009, p. 1364).

“If the two behaviors (smoking and extreme dieting) co-occur in adolescents,
harmful health effects may be significantly worsened, which endangers the
health of youths who are still physically and mentally developing” (Seo &
Jiang, 2009, p. 1364).

“Specifically, the study’s hypothesis maintains that overweight adolescent

girls, a group heavily influenced by the media visions of the ‘perfect body’,
and who are likelier to have peers around them dieting, are more likely to go
on a diet than their male peers” (López‐Guimerà, Fauquet, Portell, Sánchez‐
Carracedo & Raich, 2008, p. 235).

“Specifically, the study’s hypothesis maintains that overweight adolescent

girls, a group that is heavily influenced by the media visions of the ‘perfect
body’, and who are likelier to have peers around them dieting, are more likely
to go on a diet than their male peers” (López‐Guimerà, Fauquet, Portell,
Sánchez‐Carracedo & Raich, 2008, p. 235).
 Participle Phrases
In academic writing, we often use a lot of complex sentence structures. We often use relative
(adjective) clauses to create complex descriptions of events, people, and ideas. One way to add variety
and formal style to your writing is to change some of your relative clauses to participle phrases. These
are reduced relative clauses because they do not use a relative pronoun (which, that, who) and often
eliminate a helping or modal verb. Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description
to the sentence.
Dieting changes a person’s eating habits and patterns only temporarily, which will cause them
to regain weight when they go back to previous unhealthy habits.
Dieting changes a person’s eating habits and patterns only temporarily, thereby causing them
to regain weight when they go back to previous unhealthy habit.s
In the above sentence, "which will cause" is reduced to "causing". This is an example of a present
participle phrase. We use the present participle (-ing) form of the verb in place of the relative pronoun
and helping verb (will). We use the present participle form because the sentence above is in active
voice and expresses future time (result). We can also use present participle form to express present
time:
Dieting is seen as a quick way to lose weight that results from long-term habits.
Dieting is seen as a quick way to lose weight resulting from long-term habits.
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People who plan to diet need to consider how they can meet their nutritional needs and create
long-term healthy habits.
People planning to diet need to consider how they can meet their nutritional needs and create
long-term healthy habits.

We use participle phrases differently for sentences with active voice and those written in the passive
voice.
For sentences written in the passive voice, we use a past participle phrase. It expresses past time.
Dieting became a trend in North America in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the rise of organizations
such as Weight Watchers, which was established as a business to help support weight loss
through a product line of meals and snacks as well as support groups.
Dieting became a trend in North America in the 1950’s and 1960’s with the rise of organizations
such as Weight Watchers, established as a business to help support weight loss through a
product line of meals and snacks as well as support groups.
 Participle Phrases - Practice
Underline the participle phrases in the following sentences from articles about dieting. Decide whether
a sentence is replacing a clause in the active or passive voice and whether is contains a present or past
participle.

1. “Neumark-Sztainer et al. (1996) concluded that, among Minnesotan adolescents in the 6th, 9th, and 12th
grades, both boys and girls using extreme dieting methods were more likely to engage in cigarette smoking
than those who did not use such methods”

 active voice  passive voice  present participle  past participle

2. “BMI (body mass index), used to calculate the ideal weight range of person based on weight and height, can
be an unreliable way to measure health”

 active voice  passive voice  present participle  past participle

3. “Some people with excess body fat may fall within the ‘‘normal’’ BMI range. Others maintaining extra
muscle mass, such as athletes, may tend to have a higher BMI even in the absence of higher levels of body
fat”

 active voice  passive voice  present participle  past participle

4. “The lack of complete reliability of the BMI for measuring excess body fat may explain some lack of
connection between actual weight status based on the BMI and people’s inaccurate beliefs about their
weight”

 active voice  passive voice  present participle  past participle

5. “Among adult males, there was no association with age and dieting; however, the amount of men trying to
maintain weight (not gain weight) was higher for men aged older than 30 years”
  active voice  passive voice  present participle  past participle

The following sentences contain relative clauses in italics. Change the relative clauses to participle phrases.
Make sure to check if the sentence is in active or passive voice to use the appropriate type of participle
phrase.

1. “Overweight females and those who perceive themselves to be overweight were the most likely
subgroup to report a history of dieting behaviors (66%)” (Lee, Ha, Vann, & Choi, 2009, p. 432).

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________________________________________________________________________________

2. “Because of the wide range of ‘‘normal’’ weights, it may be important to determine whether those
students who are dissatisfied with their weight status are more likely to be at the high or low end of
their weight category” (Lee, Ha, Vann, & Choi, 2009, p. 434).

________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

3. “One study showed a prevalence of obesity in 32.2 % of men greater than 20 years of age in years
2007–2008; this was up from 27.5 % in 1999–2000, which indicates increasing trends in obesity across
age ranges” (Vining, Cotugna, Fang, & Snider, 2016, p. 762).

________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

4. “Weight concern and weight status, in turn, predict dieting behaviors among adolescents, which
include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder” (Seo & Jiang, 2009, p. 1365).

________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. “A person who tries to lose weight by counting calories feeds her body less than it needs. In this way,
hunger happens and ‘the body’, which craves food, will want to eat all the time” (Mol, 2012, p. 387).

________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

I will present several reasons as to why dieting simply does not work. In fact, diets, which are often
used as a quick way to lose big amounts of weight, can have the reverse effect. By dieting, you are
more likely to not only gain back the weight that was lost, but also gain more weight and risk damaging
your body. According to Mann (2015), “you can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any
number of diets, but then the weight comes back” (p. 6). The authors say that a lot of people who were
involved in their study regained all the weight, plus more. Therefore, diets do not lead to sustained
weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people. Actually, diets can result in further weight
gain; another study showed that both men and women who participated in weight-loss programs
gained much more weight over a two-year period than non-participants (Tomiyama, 2014). Moreover,
repeated weight loss and gain can have bad health effects; Longan (2014) presented evidence that
people who lose and gain weight repeatedly have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, strokes, and
diabetes. Rather than extreme dieting, healthy eating habits and exercising seem to be the answer to
long-term weight loss.

I will present several reasons as to why dieting simply does not work. In fact, diets, which are often
used as a quick way to lose big amounts of weight, can have the reverse effect. By dieting, you are
more likely to not only gain back the weight that was lost, but also gain more weight and risk damaging
your body. According to Mann (2015), “you can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any
number of diets, but then the weight comes back” (p. 6). The authors say that a lot of people who were
involved in their study regained all the weight, plus more. Therefore, diets do not lead to sustained
weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people. Actually, diets can result in further weight
gain; another study showed that both men and women who participated in weight-loss programs
gained much more weight over a two-year period than non-participants (Tomiyama, 2014). Moreover,
repeated weight loss and gain can have bad health effects; Longan (2014) presented evidence that
people who lose and gain weight repeatedly have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, strokes, and
diabetes. Rather than extreme dieting, healthy eating habits and exercising seem to be the answer to
long-term weight loss.