What About the Children?
When I first began my practice I treated eating disorders in adolescents and adults. Over the years I have seen more and more children and preteens with body image disturbances and eating disorders. Research is consistent with this. Children as young as eight and nine years old are concerned that they are "too fat".
There is a problem in our society at large when our youth are so focused on their weight and appearance. The statistics are astonishing. One in five high school girls takes diet pills. An estimated 10% of U.S. teenagers have eating disorders. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta cites the prevalence of adolescent dieting in the U.S. as 61% for girls and 28% for boys within the past year. Many are using laxatives, fasting, diuretics, and vomiting.
Along with increases in eating disorders and dieting behavior there have also been increases in the rates of obesity for children and teens in the past decade. One fifth of adolescents are now overweight. One can speculate that the extreme prejudice against overweight youngsters has led these children to restrict their food intake which in turn leads to binge eating and weight gain. Thus overweight youngsters are at increased risk of developing an eating disorder if they turn to food deprivation to lose weight.
Why are our youth turning to food, either denying themselves or else eating excessive amounts? These children are unwitting victims. They value what they see their parents and society at large value. All children want to be loved and accepted by their family and peer group. They emulate the behaviors they feel will make them acceptable.
As a society we need to take responsibility. Our media sends the message that body size is an accurate reflection of self-worth. Children grow up believing there is something wrong with them if they don't look like their Barbie dolls. (Barbie's proportions would be physically impossible on a real human being. A woman would have to be at least 7 feet tall to be proportioned the way that Barbie is!)
Children glean the message that if we are to be happy and successful they must deny their hunger and restrict their eating. The sad part is that they are receiving this message at an earlier and earlier age. We are all familiar with the Calvin Klein ads depicting emaciated prepubescent models as the ideal. We accept as normal that weight obsession is part of a young girl's growing up. How odd to accept without questioning that malnourishment is effecting the growth and the brains of these young women. They are highly disadvantaged by this in the pursuit of their education and career.
Restrained eating can cause poor concentration, moodiness, irritability, anger, depression, feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety, obsessional thinking, poor decision making, and social withdrawal. Often these symptoms are seen as signs of deep emotional problems, when the obvious cause, poor nutrition is often overlooked.
Even for those who would benefit medically and psychologically from weight loss, traditional methods often stress food restriction ( an externally imposed diet) and a "blame the victim mentality." A more helpful approach would be to help children learn to respond to their internal cues of hunger and satiety, to appreciate the pleasure of a strong healthy body, and respect for individual differences in size and shape. Ideally the media would begin to send this message as well. It is time to publicly identify dieting as a health risk and to educate the public as to more helpful alternatives.
There is a problem in our society at large when our youth are so focused on their weight and appearance. The statistics are astonishing. One in five high school girls takes diet pills. An estimated 10% of U.S. teenagers have eating disorders. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta cites the prevalence of adolescent dieting in the U.S. as 61% for girls and 28% for boys within the past year. Many are using laxatives, fasting, diuretics, and vomiting.
Along with increases in eating disorders and dieting behavior there have also been increases in the rates of obesity for children and teens in the past decade. One fifth of adolescents are now overweight. One can speculate that the extreme prejudice against overweight youngsters has led these children to restrict their food intake which in turn leads to binge eating and weight gain. Thus overweight youngsters are at increased risk of developing an eating disorder if they turn to food deprivation to lose weight.
Why are our youth turning to food, either denying themselves or else eating excessive amounts? These children are unwitting victims. They value what they see their parents and society at large value. All children want to be loved and accepted by their family and peer group. They emulate the behaviors they feel will make them acceptable.
As a society we need to take responsibility. Our media sends the message that body size is an accurate reflection of self-worth. Children grow up believing there is something wrong with them if they don't look like their Barbie dolls. (Barbie's proportions would be physically impossible on a real human being. A woman would have to be at least 7 feet tall to be proportioned the way that Barbie is!)
Children glean the message that if we are to be happy and successful they must deny their hunger and restrict their eating. The sad part is that they are receiving this message at an earlier and earlier age. We are all familiar with the Calvin Klein ads depicting emaciated prepubescent models as the ideal. We accept as normal that weight obsession is part of a young girl's growing up. How odd to accept without questioning that malnourishment is effecting the growth and the brains of these young women. They are highly disadvantaged by this in the pursuit of their education and career.
Restrained eating can cause poor concentration, moodiness, irritability, anger, depression, feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety, obsessional thinking, poor decision making, and social withdrawal. Often these symptoms are seen as signs of deep emotional problems, when the obvious cause, poor nutrition is often overlooked.
Even for those who would benefit medically and psychologically from weight loss, traditional methods often stress food restriction ( an externally imposed diet) and a "blame the victim mentality." A more helpful approach would be to help children learn to respond to their internal cues of hunger and satiety, to appreciate the pleasure of a strong healthy body, and respect for individual differences in size and shape. Ideally the media would begin to send this message as well. It is time to publicly identify dieting as a health risk and to educate the public as to more helpful alternatives.
