Did you know that 80 percent of all 10 year-old US girls has already been on a diet, and that a huge number of 10-12 year old children already have worries about their weight? Eating disorders affect our kids, too. Here, we look at what you can do.
While the symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorders are very clearly laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, it is important to recognize that symptoms of different eating disorders can overlap in children — the symptoms you see may not form as clear a pattern as you read about when you look each of these disorders up in the DSM-5, and because eating disorders involve a large covert component, you may not see all the symptoms your child has, either.
Broadly speaking:
- Anorexia is a disorder in which the patient believes themselves to be overweight, often despite being extremely underweight. Anorexics will go to great lengths to avoid food.
- Bulimia is a disorder characterized by binge eating and subsequent purging.
- Binge eating disorder is characterized by overeating without purging.
What are the warning signs, then? You will notice changed behavior in your child. If your daughter or son has an eating disorder, they will almost certainly also display mood swings, sadness, anxiety, depression and social isolation. Anger and irritation are also common, especially if you ask your child about their relationship with food.
In practical terms, you may notice your child pushing food around their plate without eating it, engaging in episodes of binge eating, being secretive around food, or spending lots of time in the bathroom after eating. Rapid weight loss, weight fluctuations, or weight gain can all be symptoms of an eating disorder as well.
I Think My Child Has An Eating Disorder — What Now?
Overcoming an eating disorder is an enormously complex process. It is not something you can deal with within your own family. If your child is displaying symptoms of an eating disorder, there are two main things you can do. The first — the need for which is echoed by everyone who has ever had an eating disorder — is to love and support your child unconditionally. You can't criticize someone out of an eating disorder, or solve the problem by trying to regulate their food intake for yourself. That brings us to the second point, which is to seek help.
Your family doctor or pediatrician can be a good starting point (go by yourself, without your child, at first), but a psychologist with experience in treating eating disorders in children is even better.
Whether your child can enter the road to recovery by attending outpatient care or they benefit from inpatient attendance, an experienced psychologist cannot only make a diagnosis but also refer to to the appropriate resources.
As your child embarks on the process of learning to have a healthy relationship with food, you will want to access support services for yourself as well. A psychologist who specializes in eating disorders can advise you on how to talk to your child, how to monitor their progress, and how to keep your bond with your child strong all through it.
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