It compares with a figure of just over one in 20 for both boys and girls who have taken such aids at some point in their life.
Diet pills were most popular, followed by laxatives and diuretics.
Researchers warned against children taking unprescribed diet aids, saying: “They do not work, are dangerous, are associated with unhealthful weight gain in adulthood, and increase the risk of being diagnosed with an eating disorder within several years of onset of use.”
The findings, published in the JAMA Network Open medical journal, came from a round-up of 90 studies on 604,552 youngsters from around the world, led by a team at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
Tom Quinn, of charity Beat, called for stricter laws to ensure diet aids were not sold to those with an eating disorder.
