Eating Disorders

Many kids — particularly adolescents — are concerned about how they look and can feel self-conscious about their bodies. This can be especially true when they are going through puberty, and undergo dramatic physical changes and face new social pressures.

Unfortunately, for a number of kids and teens, that concern can lead to an obsession that can become an eating disorder. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa cause dramatic weight fluctuation, interfere with normal daily life, and can permanently affect their health

Parents can help prevent kids from developing an eating disorder by building their self-esteem and encouraging healthy attitudes about nutrition and appearance. If you become worried that your son or daughter might be developing an eating disorder, it's important to step in and seek proper medical care.

Eating disorders aren’t your typical dinner table conversation. However, studies suggest more people die of anorexia than any other mental health disorder.

Generally, eating disorders involve self-critical, negative thoughts and feelings about body weight and food, and eating habits that disrupt normal body function and daily activities.

While more common among girls, eating disorders can affect boys, too.

They're so common in the U.S. that 1 or 2 out of every 100 kids will struggle with one, most commonly anorexia or bulimia. Unfortunately, many kids and teens successfully hide eating disorders from their families for months or even years.

Causes The specific cause/causes of eating disorders are unknown. However, it is believed to be due to a combination of biological, psychological and/or environmental abnormalities. A common belief is that "Genetics loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger. This would mean that some people are born with a predisposition to it, which can be brought to the surface depending on environment and reactions to it. Many people with eating disorders suffer also from body dysmorphic disorder, altering the way a person sees themself. There are also many other possibilities such as environmental, social and interpersonal issues that could promote and sustain this illness. Also, the media are oftentimes blamed for the rise in the incidence of eating disorders due to the fact that media images of idealized slim physical shape of people such as models and celebrities motivate or even force people to attempt to achieve slimness themselves.

The media are accused of distorting reality, in the sense that people portrayed in the media are either naturally thin and thus unrepresentative of normality or unnaturally thin by forcing their bodies to look like the ideal image by putting excessive pressure on themselves to look a certain way