All of a sudden you notice that family meals feel more stressful than they used to. Or back-to-school shopping was met with tears. Your child who has always loved movement is spending more and more time exercising. Or maybe trips to the bathroom after meals are becoming more frequent. These are all signs that your child may have an eating disorder.
While we often think of eating disorders affecting teenage girls, and that group is at an elevated risk, these diseases affect people of all ages, genders, and body types. Your child does not need to be underweight to have an eating disorder. Only 6% of eating disorders present with low body weight. And while most eating disorders begin during adolescence, in recent years we have seen an increasingly young onset.
If you believe your child may be struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating, here are 4 things you can do:
Talk to your child and take it seriously
Talking about your concerns will not make things worse. Share what has worried you, and ask them to share their experience. Be intentional not to minimize or try to fix the situation. Instead, focus on gathering information on what is happening and how your child is feeling.
Learn about eating disorders
Eating disorders are serious mental health illnesses that affect the patient and their family system. They can involve over and/or under-eating, purging behaviors such as vomiting, and excessive exercise. They can also include food hoarding and binge eating behaviors. Eating disorders normally accompany significant shame, guilt, depression, and/or anxiety in addition to food and body concerns. Learning about these disorders is a great step in being able to support your child.
Adjust body talk and the food environment at home
When supporting someone with an eating disorder, it is best practice to neutralize all language about food and bodies at home. Creating an eating environment where food is neutral, accessible, and safe is important in supporting the recovery process.
Seek professional help
Eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of any mental health disorder (behind opioid abuse), so we want to take them seriously. Early identification and intervention are among the best predictors of a stable and lasting recovery.
Seek help early and often from a treatment team (therapist, dietitian, and medical provider) that specializes in eating disorder treatment. Edison Eating Disorder and Mental Health Services is a local, specialized team ready to answer your questions and provide necessary treatment.
Kim Curran is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) and a Board Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Consultant (CEDS-C) by the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. Kim is the owner of Edison Eating Disorder and Mental Health Services, a multidisciplinary outpatient practice in West Des Moines that specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. She is passionate about expanding resources and access to evidence-based eating disorder treatment in Iowa.
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