Parenting Teens Blog

We may be bombarded with statistics concerning childhood obesity, but the number of children suffering from eating disorders is also on the rise. According to government figures, the number of cases of children being admitted to hospital with eating disorders such as anorexia has increased by more than a third over the last 10 years, with 562 girls and 111 boys aged under 18 hospitalized in 2005/06.

And now, a study carried out by Finnish scientists claims 18 percent of school children admit to having eating problems – that’s almost a fifth of all teenagers. However the report (ii), published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, claims that anxiety is more to blame than body image problems.

According to the report, which quizzed 372 students aged between 15 and 17, the teenagers who suffered from anxiety early during their adolescence were 20 times more likely to have eating disorders than those who had not experienced earlier psychological problems. And those who were dissatisfied with the way they looked only had recurring eating problems if they suffered anxiety earlier in their adolescence too.

The researchers also discovered that girls were twice as likely to report eating problems on one occasion than boys, and five times more likely to have ongoing eating problems.

Meanwhile 77 percent of those who admitted having persistent eating problems said they were unhappy with their weight and 46 percent were unhappy with their appearance, compared with eight and 18 percent of those who ate normally. Yet 63 percent of the teens who admitted having eating problems were of normal weight – and 37 percent were actually underweight.

The teenagers who had persistent eating problems were also more likely to report having health problems such as abdominal pain, dizziness, fatigue, headache and insomnia than those without eating problems – that is, 70 percent compared to 40 percent.

Read the full article here.

Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are the two most popular types of eating disorder, but there are others, which while not common still exist and are rapidly spreading.

Types of eating disorders

Anorexia Nervosa

The name comes from two Latin words that mean nervous inability to eat. In females who have begun to menstruate, anorexia nervosa is usually marked by amenorrhea, or skipping at least three menstrual periods in a row. There are two types of Anorexia Nervosa, restricting type, characterized by strict dieting and exercise without binge eating; and a binge-eating/purging type, marked by episodes of compulsive eating with or without self-induced vomiting and the use of laxatives or enemas.

Bulimia Nervosa

Repeated secretive bouts of excessive eating followed by self-induced vomiting, purging, and anorexia, usually accompanied by feelings of guilt, depression, and self-disgust. A bulimic episode (a binge) is defined as a fit of frenzied overeating in which an excessive amount of food is consumed in a short time; this episode involves a sense of loss of control. They sometimes involve rapid and out-of-control feeding that stops when the bulimic is interrupted by another person or when his/her stomach hurts from over-extension. This cycle may be repeated several times a week or, in serious cases, several times a day.

Bulimia is related to deep psychological issues and feelings of lack of control. Sufferers often use the destructive eating pattern to feel in control over their lives. Bulimics are usually raised in dysfunctional families. Many also display alexithymia, the inability to consciously experience and express emotions.

Starvation Diet

Dieting tends to refer to the process of manipulating food intake and energy output in order to reduce body weight for health or aesthetic reasons. To reduce weight, fewer calories than the body needs are ingested, forcing the body to obtain its energy from fat stores. Extreme calorie restriction, medication or unusual patterns of eating such as restricting food consumption to a single fruit or meal can be dangerous and can have the following side effects:

* Prolonged hunger

* Depression

* Reduced sex drive

* Fatigue

* Irritability

* Fainting

* Sinus problems (especially post-nasal drip)

* Muscle atrophy

* Rashes

* Acidosis

* Bloodshot eyes

* Gallbladder disease

* Seizures

* Malnutrition, possibly leading to death

Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder (BED) is characterized by a loss of control over eating behaviors. The binge eater consumes unnaturally large amounts of food in a short time period, but unlike a bulimic, does not regularly engage in any inappropriate weight-reducing behaviors (for example, excessive exercise, vomiting, taking laxatives) following the binge episodes. Because of the nature of the disorder, most BED patients are overweight or obese.

Binge eating episodes may act as a psychological release for excessive emotional stress. Other circumstances that may predispose an individual to BED include heredity and mood disorders, such as major depression.

Many BED individuals binge after long periods of excessive dieting; therapy helps normalize this pattern. The initial goal of BED treatment is to teach the patient to gain control over his or her eating behavior by focusing on eating regular meals and avoiding snacking. Initial treatment may focus on curbing the depression that is a characteristic feature of BED.

In the United States, as many as 10 in 100 young women suffer from an eating disorder. However, eating disorders affect both males and females at many stages in the life cycle. Overeating related to tension, poor nutritional habits and food fads are relatively common eating problems for youngsters. The term “eating disorders” encompasses a group of problems that fall into two broad categories overeating (binging), and under eating (anorexia).

Some of the most common causes of eating disorders are:

Environmental factors – These factors include social norms of beauty and the influence of media on people’s perception of what is beautiful. The best example would be Hollywood’s unrealistic standard of beauty that makes the public feel incredibly inadequate and dissatisfied and forces people to strive for an unattainable appearance.

Family relations – Many studies have showed that many women who experienced physical or sexual abuse as a child end up with eating disorders as a method of punishing oneself due to the feeling of being worthless, or to strive to be “good enough” so they can finally receive the love and acceptance they lacked during childhood. Research from a family systems perspective indicates that eating disorders stem from both the adolescent’s difficulty in separating from over-controlling parents, and disturbed patterns of communication. When parents are critical and unaffectionate, their children are more prone to becoming self-destructive and self-critical, and have difficulty developing the skills to engage in self-care giving behaviors.

Biological/Genetic factors – Research has shown that many people who suffer from an eating disorder are highly correlated with having depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. Depressed, obsessive compulsive and bulimic patients were found to have lower than normal serotonin levels. Neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, are released as you eat. Also, damage to the hypothalamus can result in abnormalities in temperature regulation, eating, drinking, sexual behavior, fighting, and activity level

Addiction – With addiction and eating disorders there is a need to discharge affective experience through action rather than feeling or being able to talk about them, an inability to regulate tension, the need for immediate gratification, poor impulsive control, and a fragile sense of self. Often in those with eating disorders and substance abuse problems drugs or alcohol is used in attempts to avoid binge eating.

Parents frequently wonder how to identify symptoms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. These disorders are characterized by a preoccupation with food and a distortion of body image. Shame and secrecy often accompany eating disorders, and the problem may go undetected for years. Recognition of these disorders is necessary to begin the long process of treatment.

Unlike other addictive or habit problems, food cannot be avoided, and recovery requires developing a healthier relationship to food and to one’s own body, as well as improved coping skills. With comprehensive treatment, most teenagers can be relieved of the symptoms or helped to control eating disorders. The child and adolescent psychiatrist is trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat these psychiatric disorders.

Treatment for eating disorders usually requires a team approach; including individual therapy, family therapy, working with a primary care physician, working with a nutritionist, and medication.