Teenage Eating Disorders - The Disorder Of Our Times!
Teenage eating disorders are a very real problem in our day. The most important thing is not to try and treat it yourself or to leave it and hope it will go away. You have to take action on the very first moment you suspect that your teen may have an eating disorder.
You must remember that an eating disorder is not simply a bad eating habit but a serious medical condition that requires immediate professional treatment.
The three main eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, some of the symptoms of these three may be the same but there are also very distinct differences. The treatment of anorectics, bulimics and binge eaters involves parents as well as health care professionals.
It is not the purpose of this article to go into each eating disorder in detail. The treatment of an eating disorder has to be done by a trained professional and we will only give the warning signs for each here as well as some references where more help can be obtained.
This is a specialized subject but because this site deals with weight loss it cannot be completely ignored. If in any doubt, get help!
If your teenager is saying "how can I lose fat?" while she is as thin as a reed already, get help!!
Warning signs of anorexia:
- Abnormal weight loss and weight dropping to 7 pounds or more below the normal weight for someone of that height
- Obsessive calorie counting and the eating of only very low-calorie food
- Eating only salad and fruit
- Secretive eating habits
- Discarding food to make it look as if the teen has eaten a meal
- Cutting food into very small pieces to make them look smaller
- Only eating out of sight
- Obsessive about exercise and other obsessive behavior
- Abnormal infections, constipation, dizzy spells, insomnia and abnormal complaining of cold
- Spending a lot of time in the supermarket looking ad food and their calorie count without buying anything
- An abnormal obsession with food, yet not eating
Who normally tend to suffer from bulimia nervosa?
Bulimia normally starts with people between the ages of 12 and 21. Bulimia can occur in both sexes, but it most often occurs in women. Most of the time bulimics maintain fairly normal or high normal body weight, but significant weight fluctuations is also a possibility and happens with quite a lot of Bulimia sufferers. A separate category of bulimia sufferers are athletes who are involved in sports and other activities that have very stringent weight conditions like gymnastics, ballet, boxing etc.
Warning signs of bulimia:
- Any signs of the possible consumption of large amounts of food such as wrappers, empty containers and just the general disappearance of large amounts of food from e.g. the fridge
- Any evidence of purging behavior such as frequent trips to the bathroom after meals the signs or smell of vomiting and the presence of wrappers of laxatives and diuretics
- An excessive and rigid exercise regimen with the purpose to "burn off" calories in despite weather, fatigue, illness, or injury
- Behavior that indicates that weight loss, dieting, and the control of food are becoming overriding concerns
- Swelling of the cheeks or jaw area
- Discoloration or staining of the teeth
- Abnormal sores on the hands caused by the purging
- Remember, most bingeing and purging occurs in secret it may also be in the company of a very close friend so be on the look out for that as well
- What is binge eating disorder?
- Binge or compulsive eating can be described as a way of managing anxiety through the use of food. It often occurs in secret. Binge eating is the consumption of very large amounts of food, mostly in secret. It is very similar to Bulimia except that it is not normally followed by purging. The result, of course, is that a binge eater is normally very overweight or obese. Binge eaters are unable to stop eating and they hate what it is doing to them but they are powerless. Binge eaters are very aware that they lack control over their excessive eating but they fell they cannot change. A Binge Eater cannot stop eating until uncomfortably full.
Who normally suffers from binge eating disorder?
Recent research indicates that nearly 1 in 3 people participating in medically supervised eating disorder programs suffer from binge eating. It is the most common eating disorder and most Binge Eaters are obese. There are some Binge Eaters that have a normal weight but that is not very often. Yo-yo dieting is very common amongst Binge Eaters. It is important to realize that Binge Eating is a serious condition that needs professional help. Do not try and solve this problem on your own.
Websites were you can get more information:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/eating-disorders/complete-publication.shtml
http://www.health24.com/mind/Eating_disorders/1284-1299.asp
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/eating_disorders/
http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/what_symptoms_of_eating_disorders_000049_6.htm
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