As we are now becoming more and more aware, eating disorders are not solely exclusive to adults, and are, disturbingly, becoming increasingly common in children and young adults.

Look at any magazine aimed at young girls, for example, and you will see a vast and worrying array of articles on food, allegedly healthy eating and ‘fashionable’ dieting.

It is a topic for conversation for many young girls and, for some, something else to worry about in this already constantly changing and often confusing time of their young lives.

Research has shown that teenagers, more than any other age group, are affected by celebrity and media images of ‘thinness’.
They devour articles on how to get a celebrity body and compete with each other to see who can diet the most effectively often aiming to reach impossible standards set by themselves.

One only has to type in ‘How to lose weight’ into an internet search engine and they will be given a choice of over 2 million sites to choose from, with many of them offering nothing more than, many would say, potentially dangerous ‘restrictive’ diets, slimming pills, and nuggets of advice that at best are nutritionally questionable and at worst ill-informed and littered with risks to innocent peoples health.

One study of teenage girls revealed that they felt that the ‘ideal’ body would be 5ft 7 and weigh just 7 stone 2 pounds.

What this represents is a goal that most girls will not achieve without seriously restricting their eating, and a weight that would actually be considered, by many, to be anorexic.

What this clearly shows is that the pressure many children place on themselves in pursuing ‘goals’ related to their weight and appearance are completely unrealistic.

Alarming numbers of children now admit to using methods such as starving themselves for days at a time, making themselves sick and taking laxatives and diet pills.

Some studies suggest that over half of teenage girls and nearly a quarter of boys have tried one or more of these methods and feel that they are harmless ways of controlling their weight.

Over 3% of 13-18 year olds are now estimated to have anorexia or bulimia which put alongside the fact that more than 10% of teenagers in the UK are at a weight considered to be clinically obese points strongly to the possibility that some are suffering with binge eating disorder. The age of those suffering with eating disorders also seems to be falling. Once a disorder that generally started between the ages of 16-18, it is now common to hear of girls as young as 14 and under suffering from an eating disorder.

Of the hundreds of children who called Childline last year asking for advice about eating disorders, over 70% were between the ages of 13 and 16.

So what can we do to make sure our children aren’t at risk of falling victim to eating disorders?

Well, children often hear messages about what healthy eating is, but rarely do they hear about what healthy eating isn’t.

It is vital that healthy eating messages are balanced with warnings about not restricting eating too far, protecting those at risk from developing severe rules about what they do and don’t eat.

Children need to know that no food is forbidden – just that some foods should not be eaten too often.

Healthy eating is not about weighing everything, counting calories, carbohydrate grams or fat percentages. Children need to know that it is normal to sometimes eat too much and sometimes too little. Eating, whether healthy or otherwise, should not dominate their life.

Often at the root of an eating disorder is a difficulty with dealing with negative emotions like anxiety or anger.

Children may have never been told how to handle these emotions, how to make themselves feel better or how to react in a constructive way to this kind of emotional pain.

Food becomes something they can focus on that helps them cope, or distracts them from their feelings. Sometimes something like losing weight can feel like the one thing they can do that might make their life better.

You can help them avoid this mistake by teaching them better ways to handle and express anger, lift their mood and relax.

Another thing parents can do is avoid glamourising eating disorders, it may seem like an obvious point to make, but many charities and organizations who go into schools to talk with pupils about anorexia and bulimia are shocked to discover how excited many of the children become when the visitors talk about what their weight was at their worst, what they ate each day etc.

The sad but true fact is that children in the 21st century are growing up in an environment that often encourages thinness, and eating disorders can become things that are admired by the young. It is essential therefore that the harsh reality of eating disorders are portrayed.

Make sure your children understand the impact eating disorders have on a sufferer’s life, how many have to leave school and give up their dreams for the future and how in the long term eating disorders end up causing many more problems than they solve.

Help & Info

Anorexia and Bulimia Care (ABC)
PO Box 173,
Letchworth
SG6 1XQ
Tel: 01462 423351
(Monday to Friday 9.30am - 12.30pm)
Email: anorexiabulimiacare@ntlworld.com
Website: www.anorexiabulimiacare.co.uk

Eating Disorders Association
103 Prince of Wales Road
Norwich
NR1 1DW
Adult Helpline: 0845 634 1414
(Monday to Friday 8.30am – 8.30pm and Saturday 1pm – 4.30pm)
Youthline: 0845 634 7650
(Monday to Friday 4pm – 6.30pm and Saturday 1pm – 4.30pm)
Email: info@edauk.com
Website: www.edauk.com

Careline
Cardinal Heenan Centre
326 High Road
Ilford
IG1 1QP
Tel: 020 8514 1177
(Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm & 7pm – 10 pm)
Website: www.careline.org