Eating Disorder Awareness and Prevention

"I'm glad I had the chicken pox."

"Why is that?"

"Because it meant I went to bed without dinner."

"Well, why would you be glad about that?"

""Because it means I didn't have any calories."

The above conversation with a six year old girl took place in my waiting room as I was saying goodbye to her mother who was a client of mine seeing me for compulsive eating. The dieting craze has permeated down to the youngest most innocent of our society. Today we find children from all classes, ethnicities and ages worried about weight and suffering because of it.

Today children as young as preschoolers discuss weight , want to be thin and report body shape as a key ingredient in their personal identity. These children are being raised by the first generation of adults since Twiggy and the dieting and fashion industry revolutionized our view of beauty. Most of the industry's marketing is to adult women but children are constantly exposed not only to the advertising itself but to their parents discussions, behaviors and attitudes that result from it.

Children learn that weight, especially being thin, is very important and they begin to judge themselves and others based on this. The Wall Street Journal has previously reported a survey showing 80% of fourth graders have dieted! Some of these children will develop full fledged eating disorders, while many others may compromise health and physical development in subclinical ways. As the director of The Eating Disorder Center of California and The Monte Nido Residential Treatment Center I see younger and younger children each year.

Parents, educators, physicians and health care professionals can counteract some of the negative messages children receive about food, weight, and body shape.

Please consider these suggestions below and pass them on to others.

1. Examine how the culture has affected our own body image and nutritional habits.
2. Convey to children that weight and appearance are not the most crucial aspects of identity or self worth.
3. Foster self esteem and self awareness by discussing and validating feelings.
4. Encourage direct communication and critical thinking.
5. Make sure children feel loved for who they are, praise their insides not their outsides.
6. Talk with children about the impact of advertising on how we feel about ourselves.
7. Talk to children about the cultural standards of beauty and how they change and the current pressure to be thin.
8. Become active against the madness; write letters to companies who send negative messages to our children through advertising.
9. Teach your child healthy eating and exercise habits, talk health not weight.
10. Do not be critical of your own or other peoples bodies, children will adopt your attitude and behavior not what you tell them is right.