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Eating disorders for teens and children could be devastating. It's a quick downward spiral that could have long-term ramifications and consequences involved. Oftentimes even death. So many people have suffered silently of eating disorders throughout the years, but these days the awareness for these disorders have pushed it into a new light, making people confront them. Social pressures play a huge role in the fact that there are so many teens and children these days that suffer from varying degrees of eating disorders. Teens and children often feel the need to fit in, and this need often takes over a huge part of their lives. Popular culture, media and its many channels continuously bombard children with the marketing concept that a certain body type (waiflike thin) is the most desirable kind of figure. Children unconsiously and consciously equate thinness to being normal, happy, and successful. It's a dangerous correlation to make, and sadly, there are millions of teens across the country who have adapted this view. Types of eating disorders for children: 1. Anorexia - Dieting unnecessarily and obsessively in order to lose a lot of weight. Anorexics believe they are always too fat. No matter how much weight they lose, it never seems enough. It's a very dangerous kind of eating disorder because it's the one which has claimed a lot of lives already. While having a healthy diet is helpful, making dieting the focus of one's life and being unable to recognize when you need it and when you need to stop doing it is both physically and psychologically damaging. 2. Bulimia - Characterized by bingeing on food and then purging it. This binge/purge pattern includes overeating or eating a lot of "sin foods" (food one considers to be especially unhealthy or decadent) and then vomitting as a form of removing it from the system. Other bulimics overuse laxatives, excessively fast, or obsessively work out to make up for the binge. There are even some cases where bulimics use enemas on themselves to get rid of the food in their stomach. 3. Binge eating - Characterized by indiscriminately eating without purging the food. Binge eaters find themselves unable to stop eating. They seem to be without any will power to say no to food and instead turn to food in order to use it as an emotional crutch to deal with their other emotional issues. Going through therapy and counseling could help a person identify the underlying reasons why they cannot control themselves when they eat. There are a lot of parents who don't notice the signs of eating disorders in their children until it is too late. This isn't so surprising since there are many signs that are not as easy to notice. Here are a few of them: 1. Significant weight loss. 2. Presence of laxatives and diet pills in the house. 3. Going to the bathroom regularly right after eating. 4. Fixation on counting calories and buying diet foods. 5. Fixation on weight; always asking if they're fat. 6. Cooking meals without eating any of it. 7. Odd, out of the normal eating habits. 8. Irregular menstruation (in some cases, menstruations can stop entirely) 9. Glandular swelling, fainting, dizziness, red eyes. 10. Depression 11. Moodiness 12. Lethargy If you notice any of these symptoms, it's imperative that you consult a therapist immediately before any long-term damage could be suffered by your child. Talk to your child and directly address these self-image issues. Your presence and support as a parent will be invaluable in the fight against eating disorders.
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