Focus on Pediatrics-Catch eating disorders before it's too late
August 1, 2000
Focus on Pediatrics-Catch eating disorders before it's too late
Build teens' self-image and look for signs of trouble
Eating disorders are on the rise in young women, according to data collected by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that about one in 100 females between the ages of 12 and 18 have anorexia. About 1,000 women die of anorexia each year, according to the New York City-based American Anorexia/ Bulimia Association.
People with anorexia are obsessed with weight loss and fear of becoming fat. They diet excessively, becoming so thin that all normal fat padding is lost. In response to the starvation, the body stops certain processes. Blood pressure falls, breathing rate slows, menstruation ceases, and activity of the thyroid gland diminishes.
Rather than starving, people with bulimia binge on food and purge it afterward. A bulimic binge averages about 3,400 calories in a little over an hour, while the normal food intake for teenagers is 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day. In order to keep from gaining weight, bulimics purge their bodies by self-inducing vomiting or using laxatives.
Staff at Eating Disorders Awareness Prevention (EDAP) in Seattle receive many calls from teens who suffer from eating disorders. After listening to these teens' stories, EDAP staff have come to the conclusion that successful treatment of eating disorders is difficult. "After someone develops an eating disorder, it is difficult for him or her to have successful treatment. It is possible, but it is a tough road," says Caitlin Cowden, program coordinator at EDAP. "As an organization, we feel that prevention is the key to ending eating disorders. We feel it is extremely important to prevent it from ever happening in the first place." That's why the organization has developed many educational programs and materials aimed at preventing eating disorders.
Prevention requires education, not only of the children who might develop the disorders, but of parents, physicians, teachers, and any other adults who may affect a child's life. While most adults would not contribute to an eating disorder on purpose, they may say unhelpful things without thinking of the consequences. For instance, an overweight mother may vocally refuse to go swimming because she thinks she's too overweight to be seen in a bathing suit in public. "Parents shouldn't avoid a commitment or activity because it calls attention to weight or shape," explains Cowden.
There are many things parents can do to prevent eating disorders from occurring in their children. They can make sure their attitudes and behaviors toward their own body size and shape don't send the wrong message to their child. If they are constantly going on diets, they are showing the child that no matter what we look like, our bodies are not acceptable, explains Cowden. Parents should discuss with their children the importance of eating healthy meals. They also need to teach their children that exercise is important, but it should be fun.
Teaching children to be media-savvy can also prevent eating disorders. "Teaching kids to be critical of the media can start at a young age when they see commercials for toys and want them," says Cowden. By helping them to understand that what the toy does on television is not necessarily what the toy will do when it is purchased and brought home makes them become aware of the deception of ad campaigns.
One of EDAP's most successful educational programs for young girls also focuses on media literacy and advocacy. Go Girls!, designed for girls in grades 9-12, focuses on body image and self-esteem and trains teens to look critically at media and advertisements. Each group of participating girls is encouraged to choose a project that focuses on either a positive or negative aspect of a media campaign. "Some of the girls focus their media literacy skills on retailers and talk to them about the mannequins in their displays and how that affects them with their self-esteem. It helps girls understand the impact of current media messages and their outcomes," says Cowden.
Other educational programs designed by EDAP are geared to children in grades 4-5, 4-6, and 6-7. The most popular program is called Healthy Body Image. The program teaches children to eat and to love their bodies too. The curriculum does not discuss eating disorders, but rather discusses the dangers of dieting and covers unhealthy cultural pressures regarding weight and dieting. (For details on the EDAP curriculum, see editor's note below.)
Children at risk for eating disorders can begin to manifest signs as early as the fourth grade. A young girl who is dissatisfied with her body is at higher risk. Other signs include practicing food-restrictive behavior, exercising compulsively, and becoming obsessed with weight, food, body size, and shape. "You want to be concerned if they are concerned with body image in general, because that is the beginning stages," says Cowden.
Signs for anorexia specifically include not eating, rapid weight loss, and an extreme fear of weight gain. With bulimia, the child is extremely concerned with body weight and shape but eats large quantities of food in short periods. While bulimic children often consume food in secret, there are telltale signs that they are purging. For example, their tooth enamel can become damaged from vomiting.
"For prevention of eating disorders, it is not just classes you offer for kids, but the education of parents and adults as well," says Cowden.
[Editor's note: The classroom curriculum for Go Girls! and Healthy Body Image costs $45 and can be ordered from EDAP (see EDAP contact information in source box below). Brochures and handouts are also available. EDAP has a general information brochure, a prevention brochure, a brochure on how to help a friend, and a brochure on the dangers of dieting. A bundle of 50 brochures costs $10. A packet of informational handouts that can be reproduced, including one providing tips for parents, costs $10.] n
For more information about eating disorder prevention, contact:
• Caitlin Cowden, Program Coordinator, EDAP, 603 Stewart St., Suite 803, Seattle, WA 98101. Telephone: (800) 931-2237 or (206) 382-3587. Fax: (206) 829-8501. Web site: www.edap.org.
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