How to Prevent Eating Disorders in Children

Today, the most common Eating Disorders(EDs) are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-eating Disorders. Other less common disorders include Rumination Disorder, Pica Disorder, Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (AFRID), and more.

Generally, EDs are serious conditions marked by severe disturbances to one’s eating habits and related thoughts as well as emotions. They can negatively impact your health, emotions and even interfere with your ability to carry out daily functions due to inadequate nutrition intake. 

Although most people may be health conscious and place high emphasis on health, weight and physical appearance from time to time, people with EDs are more extreme as they are obsessed with looking a certain way or turn to food as a form of coping mechanism. 

How do parents contribute and prevent EDs from being rampant? 

1. Leave a good impression and serve as a positive role model.

Modeling healthy self-love and self-appreciation in front of your children by talking positively about yourself and others can be a good place to start. Children tend to pick up habits from their parents easily through observational learning. Hence, it is important for parents to first avoid treating themselves harshly and love themselves for who they are for the next generation to imitate. 

Additionally, parents can focus more on placing higher importance on accomplishments and reinforceable attitudes instead of only complimenting their appearance. At the same time, they should avoid any external factors that promote an unrealistic body image or the idea that extreme dieting and being thin is the key to happiness. Communicate with your children about self-image and offer reassurance that there’s no one perfect figure and that body shapes can vary.

 Besides fostering self-love, healthy eating habits can also be promoted in the day to day meal preps by including nutritious and a well-balanced diet. It is also good to teach children to eat when he/she is hungry and stop when full. 

2. Be alert of abnormal eating patterns.

It is helpful to be aware of some of the common red flags that people with EDs share so early actions can be taken. Some of the common signs that may indicate EDs include: 

• Skipping meals or making excuses to not eat
• Taking part in vigorous, extreme exercises for long hours daily
• Withdrawing from social activities
• Self body shaming or always talking about wanting to be thin 
• Use of dietary supplements or laxatives
• Pale, always fatigue due to malnutrition 
• Leaving during meals to use the toilet
• Repeatedly indulge in large amount of sweets or high fats food
• Consume more food in a meal or snack than what is considered normal
• ​​​​​Avoid making direct remarks to your children by commenting on their physical changes.

If your children possess any of these characteristics, kindly find a time to talk to them and express your concern. Be non-judgemental and offer them your listening ears to what caused them to be as such. It is important that they feel heard and seen rather than to be invalidated. Alternatively, you may also refer to your family doctor for professional help and to discuss your concerns.

3. Avoid making direct remarks to your children by commenting on their physical changes.

Instead of pointing out that they have gained a considerable amount of weight, try incorporating low-fat yet nourishing food to their meals and plan more outdoor activities on the weekends to get those muscles moving. That way, not only can we protect them from being triggered and hurt their self-esteem, we can also introduce a healthy lifestyle to them for a better quality of life. 

Remember, children are often a product of their upbringing. Thus, what we give and practice at home is a reflection of who we are. On that note, it is important to never comment or judge the bodies of others in front of them as it may allow them to feel you have high expectations when it comes to appearance or develop an unnecessary self-consciousness that others may judge them the way you do. Parents should be able to clearly educate their children what matters most is who we are from within rather than how others perceive us and the way we look.

4. Nurture healthy coping mechanisms.

More often than not, eating disorders are developed from stress. A large body of research has reported that children who have higher levels of stress hormones are less healthy physically as they have the tendency to put on more weight from binge-eating, making them more vulnerable to eating disorders. Thus, as parents, you can help your children to deal with stress in a variety of other healthy ways such as getting adequate sleep, listening to music, meditation and so on rather than turning to food for comfort. 

That said, treating an eating disorder is not easy and takes time, thus working to nip the problem in the bud can help prevent further unwanted consequences. Although you may not be able to prevent an eating disorder from developing, the act of reaching out with kindness and compassion goes a long way. It is also important to remember people with eating disorders may appear to be as fit as a fiddle, hence remarkable signs and symptoms mentioned above should be taken note of for early identification.

This article is written by Janelle Leong, Bpharm(Hons) (DOC2US)

References

1. How to Prevent Eating Disorders in Children - Seeds of Hope. Available at: https://seedsofhope.pyramidhealthcarepa.com/parents-prevent-an-eating-disorder-in-your-child-before-it-starts/. Accessed on 16th February 2023
2. Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Malaysia - Relate Malaysia. Available at: https://relate.com.my/prevalence-of-eating-disorders-in-malaysia-media-statement/#:~:text=In%20the%20paper%2C%20Estimated%20Prevalence,of%20eating%20disorders%20(EDs). Accessed on 16th February 2023
3. Eating Disorders - Mayo Clinic. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20353603. Accessed on 16th February 2023
4. 15 Ways to Keep Your Child from Developing Eating Disorder - AHA Parenting! Available at: https://www.ahaparenting.com/read/prevent-eating-disorder-child. Accessed on 16th February 2023
5. Eating Disorders - NIHS. Available at: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/eating-disorders#part_2267. Accessed on 16th February 2023

Written by

Janelle Leong, Bpharm(Hons)