Eating Disorder | Parenting Teens Blog

September 19, 2010

Statistics and Fact about Teen Eating Disorders

It is very hard to get accurate facts and statistics about eating disorders. Mostly because people are hiding that they have an eating disorder out of shame or simply out of not knowing that they have a disorder, which is a common issue with teen eating disorders. All of that makes it very hard to accurately calculate the percentage and the numbers of teens with eating disorders.

With all these issues and difficulties the statistics vary based on the source. One source may claim that over 10 million people are suffering from eating disorders in the US alone; the other can claim that the number is closer to 8 million. When we gather all of the stats they will tell us that in the US alone, between 3.5% and 13% of US population has a form of eating disorder, which is not a solid number we can go on. Based on that we can determine that there may be anywhere between 6 and 20 million of people suffering from an eating disorder, in other words, we have no clue of the actual number.

But when it comes to teen eating disorder we have a better idea of the numbers on each of the eating disorders present. The latest study revealed that between 2.5% and 4$ of teens has one of the major three eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge. One third of teens that suffer from an eating disorder have to deal with this issue up to 15 years, and about a third deal with it for up to 5 years. Although most of the people that suffer from a type of eating disorder recover, anorexia nervosa has showed to have the highest mortality rate of all.

Although every organization clearly states that none of these numbers should be taken in as a fact and that these are not reliable long terms statistics and figures, they should be considered as accurate at the moment. ANRED recently reported that almost 20% of patients treated for a serious form of an eating disorder died, while over 60% fully recovered, which shows that eating disorder have a high mortality rate.

All studies shows that most of the eating disorders actually start in the teen years and early college years, so this is the time you should pay close attention to your children and make sure that they stay healthy and live a positive life with a good body image and high confidence. Self esteem plays a great role in teen eating disorders, so if you manage to keep your teens self esteem high there are far less chances of your child having to deal with an eating disorder.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (0)

Preventing Teen Eating Disorders

Filed under: eating disorder — Tags: eating disorder, eating disorder prevention, parenting teens, Preventing Teen Eating Disorders, teen eating disorder, teen eating disorder prevention — admin @ 11:39 am

We already covered teen eating disorder causes, and it is very clear that we are still not certain of them. As such it is very hard to come up with prevention methods for eating disorders. The main eating disorders in today’s society are bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge eating and we are still not clear if regular stress factors have any influence or what kind of influence they have on these disorders.

One thing is for sure, more and more teens are being taken in by the standards set by the media. It is hard for insecure teens to feel good about themselves when models and actresses and even dolls are made according to certain standards. All of these things greatly contribute to teen distorted view of their body and it creates a false ideal of how women should look, which in return takes them on unhealthy diets and stressing out over their appearance.

So if we were to speak of prevention we would have to change the media and the entire society’s view on appeal, which is impossible. But there are a few things that can be done on the family level in order to prevent a teen eating disorder from appearing.

-    The first place to start is by giving an example. Show your kids that they need to eat healthy and take care of their weight, but take care of their healthy weight, not the weight according to false standards
-    You need to help your teen think positively of himself or herself, a positive self image and good self esteem teenagers are far less likely to develop an eating disorder
-    Make sure that your teens are eating healthy nutrient full and balanced meals
-    Try to point them out to some more realistic models and idols instead of fitness models and superstars
-    Strictly prohibit teasing based on someone’s physical appearance
-    Try to get your teens to participate in physical activities and team sports. A team sport is a great way for teens to develop higher self esteem and make a better body image of themselves, which in return lessens the odds of developing a teen eating disorder.

Of course since we are not sure what may be causing teen eating disorder we should take care of all the other issues that may appear, both physical and emotional. Any issue that appears to be problematic should be dealt with and you should try to teach your teens how to think positively and encourage them to deal with their emotions, all of that will help your teen form a better image and have better self esteem, which in return lowers the chances of teen eating disorder appearing in your child.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (0)

September 18, 2010

Causes of Teen Eating Disorders

Filed under: eating disorder — Tags: Causes of Teen Eating Disorders, parenting teens, parenting teens blog, teen easting disorder causes, teen easting disorders — admin @ 10:33 am

There are various reports on eating disorders, some of them suggest that they are connected with regular risk factors while some separate non casual elements, different risks involved and factors, but the bottom line is that we still don’t have enough information to make a solid conclusion.

There are dozens of eating disorders, but the three main types that are causing issues for our teens are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge eating disorder.

According to the studies conducted so far there are four main categories that lead to eating disorders and they are:

-   Emotional factors
-   Interpersonal factors
-   Social factors
-   Psychological factors

Let’s take a look at each of these causes of eating disorders. Emotional causes of eating disorders are suggested to have a connection to binge eating as people who binge have no control over their emotions, they are simply not well prepared to handle their emotions thus they give in to binge eating. Binge eaters are known to show sorrow, anger, worry, and most often, boredom. All of these emotions if showed in a longer period of time can lead to binge eating.

Among psychological causes the depression seems to be the number one cause, especially when it comes to binge eating. More than half of patients with binge eating disorder have a history of severe depression. But it can be easily connected with all of the eating disorders.

Interpersonal eating disorders are also a common factor, family issues, problematic personal relationships, difficulties expressing ones emotions and any form of sexual or physical abuse can lead to eating disorders.

As far as the social factors, that one is easy to understand. Media has a great influence on our body image, and we fall under the pressure of the so called fit women or men, which is very rare for a normal woman or man. In the 70’s, the modern women weighted only 8% less than the average women, today, the TV modern women weighs more than 25% less than the average woman.

In the end these are all vague findings and none of them is substantial to make something stand. We all know that stress factors have a great influence on eating disorders, but until some more studies are performed we will not be able to understand the causes of eating disorders as we should, which in return doesn’t help us treat them to the best of out possibilities.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (0)

September 1, 2010

Eating Disorders You Are Not Familiar With

Filed under: eating disorder — Tags: anorexia nervosa, bigorexia, eating disorder, parenting teens, pica eating disorder, prader-willi syndrome, teen eating disorders, teen parenting — admin @ 7:41 pm

Most of the parents are always worried if their child is eating enough, if their child getting enough vitamin and minerals, does he eat too much or maybe even have an eating disorder, obesity, anorexia? Well, since obesity is a rising problem in the US parents should take care, and anorexia, bulimia and other well known eating disorders are on the rise and are now presented more than ever before.

The good thing is that parents finally started taking care of their children’s not so known problems and they are getting educated about eating disorders. But there is a problem, people are educated about anorexia and bulimia or binge eating by the media, but the same media fails to let parents know about other eating disorders with even tougher side effects and consequences. Let’s talk about some of the eating disorders that are spread around the globe in the same number as anorexia but are not so familiar to us.

Have you ever heard of people that have a need to eat everything they see and get their hands on? They would eat rubber, chalk, even wire and cigarette buds, this is an eating disorder and its called Pica. This is a mentally inherited eating disorder, but some people can develop it at early age without prior medical history in the family. It comes from low supervision by the parents; most kids will put anything in their mouth when they are not being watched.

A very serious type of eating disorder is Prader-Willi Syndrome. This is a birth defect, it is a brain development caused by damage or defect in the hypothalamus, the part that regulates our hunger and sensation of hunger. Prader-Willi Syndrome acts on that way that a person can never feel full; in fact it feels hunger all the time. Person with this eating disorder will not only eat normal food, they will also eat anything they can get their hands on, and in this case, it really is everything as there is also a certain mental problem in question.

There is also an eating disorder which is a total opposite of Anorexia, it is called Bigorexia. You can already guess what this is, this is a disorder where a person has the need to gain weight, most of the people that suffer from Bigorexia hang around gym’s, but in this case this is not just normal healthy workout. This is a very serious eating disorder which may cause hormonal imbalances; obesity, kidney failure and other sever medical issues. Most of the people with Bigorexia start using additives, weight gain product and steroids after a while.

There is a great number of eating disorders we don’t know much about, so if you have doubts that your teen child is developing one be sure to take him to a doctor. Don’t try to implement your knowledge and treat him at home as some of these eating disorders are very serious and should not be taken lightly.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (0)

October 6, 2009

The Teen’s Brain

Filed under: abuse,addiction,ADHD,adolescents,Anxiety Disorder,behavior problems,bipolar disorder,body dysmorphic disorder,bullying,Carolina Springs Academy,Cross Creek Programs,Darrington Academy,date rape,depression,drinking,drnking,Dyslexia,eating disorder,emo,Gang involvement,grief,help for parents,Horizon Academy,interventions,Ivy Ridge Academy,learning disability,Majestic Ranch Academy,Midwest Academy,obesity,Obsessive compulsive disorder,oppositional defiant disorder,oral hygiene,Parent Support Groups,parenting teens,Red River Academy,Royal Gorge Academy,self-harming,sex adiction,smoking,special education,Specialty Boarding Schools,Spring Creek Lodge,step-families,substance abuse,suicide,teen behaviors,Teen Depression,Teen Drug Abuse,Teen Health,Teen Help,Teen Inspiration,Teen Pregnancy,teen safety,teen sex,tic disorder,tourette's syndrome,Uncategorized,violence — Tags: adolescent, alcohol, brain development, drugs, guns, parenting, risk, sex, teen death, teenagers — admin @ 10:14 am

Today’s teenagers have been stereotyped as adventurous and harebrained individuals. They are generally fond of experimenting with things until they get in touch with drugs, sex, guns, alcohol among others. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures, 16,000 young adults die each year from unintentional injuries and accidents. The most common justification for teenagers’ care-free attitude is that their brains just aren’t developed enough to know better. However, recent research shows that in some cases the fact is just the opposite, the brain matures not too slowly but perhaps, too quickly.

According to a psychiatrist, an adolescent who engages in more dangerous activities have white-matter pathways that seem to be more mature than those of risk-averse youths. White-matter is the brain’s wiring, the neutral pathways that connect the various gray-matter regions of the cerebrum that are independent of one another. Having a mature white-matter is necessary because it allows faster brain processing speed. Nerve impulses also travel faster in mature white-matter. Experiments also reveal that the more mature the look of the brain, the more adventurous the teenager tended to be.
Another possible explanation is that some teenagers whose brains develop more rapidly than others become uncomfortable and a little confused owing to the gap between their biological capabilities and the social norms they must follow as kids. Precocious development of these neural tracts may make some adolescents more susceptible to engage in behaviors that society considers too adult in nature for their chronological age. It is also a common notion that teens make dumb decisions because their brains are immature. In other words, having a more mature brain may actually motivate some teens to try out new and potentially harmful experiences.
For now, these theories are mere speculation, and the researchers concede that the interaction of white and gray matter is so complex that hard conclusions remain elusive. The results of the study are relatively bare and by no means conclusive. The human brain is so intricate in nature, and one has to consider the fact that there are other factors that come into play such as the environment and certain genetic predispositions that are equally complex to study.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (0)

Older Posts »