Eating disorders can cause serious and life-threatening medical (malnutrition, dehydration, kidney, heart and liver damage) and psychological problems (depression, poor self-esteem, anxiety), so early identification is important.
Could your child have an eating disorder?
You might suspect one if your child has any of the following classic symptoms, such as:
- being underweight, losing weight, or not gaining weight normally. Keep in mind that even children who appear to be at a healthy weight can have an eating disorder depending on what they are doing to maintain their weight.
- having an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, especially if your child is underweight
- having a disturbed body image, meaning that your child thinks that he or she is overweight, even though they are really underweight or at a healthy weight.
- in girls that have begun having regular periods, having amenorrhea, or the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles.
- episodes of binge eating
- trying to prevent weight gain by performing self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications, fasting, or excessive exercise.
- refusing to eat and continuous dieting
Surprisingly to most doctors and parents, there are a number of organizations and websites that actually advocate or encourage teens to have eating disorders. These include pro-anorexia (pro ana) and pro-bulimia (pro mia) websites. Does your teen know what a pro ana or mia is? Is she trying to be an ana or mia? If you spot some of the early warning signs of an eating disorder in your child, you might ask some screening questions to get more information. According to the National Eating Disorders Screening Program, these include:
- Are you terrified about being overweight?
- Have you gone on eating binges where you feel you may not be able to stop?
- Do you feel extremely guilty after eating?
- Do you vomit or have the impulse to vomit after meals?
- Do you feel that food controls your life?
- What do you think you ought to weigh?
- What is the most you ever weighed? How tall were you then? When was that?
- What is the least you ever weighed in the past year? How tall were you then? When was that?
- Exercise: how much, how often, level of intensity? How stressed are you if you miss a workout?
Once you suspect an eating disorder, further evaluation is important. This might include a medical evaluation from your Pediatician. and a psychological evaluation with a psychiatrist and/or psychologist.
