Eating Disorders In Children

In recent times, global issues such as weight loss, weight gain, obesity, etc. have gained a lot of importance. Well, these are good signs if people of all age groups have become concerned about their health and taking such issues seriously! Surely, one should always be health concerned, as it's our health that is going to be with us during our lifespan. But, certainly not at the cost of our health! Confused? Yes, sometimes being over conscious about health and weight, in turn affects our health. For instance, overeating might result in weight gain, therefore some people have started starving themselves! But this eventually is causing adverse effects on their health, making them internally weak and deprived of essential nutrients. Same is the case with people who have ate excessively to gain weight.

Eating disorder can be defined as a condition that affects a person's eating habits and further his daily life. These changes and disturbances can actually spoil the person's entire life. Now, it's not only the adults that suffer from eating disorders. Children also get affected by eating disorders. We are going to discuss the phenomenon of eating disorders in children in the proceeding segments.

Types of Eating Disorders in Children
At the outset of this discussion, I'll acquaint you with some common types of eating disorders in children and then we will move on to the causes, signs and symptoms and treatment.

• Bulimia Nervosa: Bulimia nervosa is characterized by overeating high calorie foods or fat foods and then burning those calories either by over exercising and workouts, or by vomiting the entire food. Bulimia nervosa actually happens on account of a feeling of being overweight, out of shape or control. Children on one side are ashamed of being shapeless, but at the same time cannot resist temptations of eating high calorie foods. They think that over exercising or vomiting the food would balance their weight as well as temptation. However, this is completely wrong and proves dangerous for their health.
• Anorexia Nervosa: Females between the age of 14-18 are most widely affected by this type of eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa develops due to an unhealthy feeling of being overweight and shapeless. However, over here the individual tries to starve himself. This leads to an unhealthy weight loss in the person and invites many other health problems.
• Binge Eating: Unrestricted eating without the fear of gaining weight or excessive fat, constitutes the binge eating disorder. This is therefore quite similar to bulimia nervosa! However, the person with this disorder doesn't care if he is overweight or obese.

Causes of Eating Disorders in Children
Eating disorders are primarily associated with a child's thinking pattern and attitude. Each child has his own reason of eating less or eating more! Therefore, there are several reasons behind eating disorders in young children. Some of them are listed below.

• Social fears
• Bullying and teasing by others
• Low self-esteem
• Fearing adulthood
• Depression
• Stress of fulfilling others expectations
• Bombardment of advertises promoting slim and trim body, importance of perfect shape, etc.
• Anxiety and accumulated anger.

Signs of Eating Disorders in Children
Parents can identify eating disorders in their children, if they show the following signs.

• Over exercising
• Excessive starving
• Restrictive eating behavior
• Being afraid of putting on weight and therefore eating very less
• Inferiority complex of being overweight or underweight
• Insisting on having meals alone
• Isolating from family and friends
• Feeling depressed all the time, due to some past situation
• Wearing over sized clothes to hide fat
• Voluntary vomiting after meals and using laxatives to lose weight.

Treatment for Eating Disorders in Children
Treating eating disorders in children is actually quite a tough task! However, it needs to be treated promptly, as there are many serious health disorders awaiting at later stages. The following are some treatments for eating disorders in children.

• First and foremost thing is that, parents should not force children to eat even when they are full and also allow them to eat, whenever they feel hungry.
• Inculcate the importance of balanced diet, proper height and weight and regular exercises.
• Teach the importance of positive approach to children.
• Let not children starve unnecessarily.
• Stop teasing and criticizing children for their looks and appearance.
• Most importantly, understand children. They are children, they are not grown up adults, who understand everything! Be aware of the fact that, children are undergoing physical and mental changes and therefore might eat more or less.

Young children have the entire life to go! Therefore, if they fall prey to such disorders in such a young age, then definitely they will be the sufferers in their future. Hence, as responsible parents, it is your duty to help them come out of such problems and encourage them to lead a healthy and stress-free life. Hope the above discussion was sufficient enough to give you an overview of eating disorders in children. Take Care!!!