Eating disorders in children

| The obsession to lose weight, counting calories and restricting some foods are dangerous behaviors that can lead to very serious health problems, such as anorexia.

According to surveys, 80% of children between 11 and 14 years old worry about their image. The most worrying fact is that in recent years the number of minors admitted to hospital units for eating disorders has been increasing.

Children at risk of developing a disorder They share similar personality traits: high anxiety, perfectionists, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. They are also often subjected to external pressure, such as bullying, abuse or parental divorce. In these children, restricting food intake is one way in which a child pretends to feel in control of his life. Probably the beginning of an eating disorder is the child's way of expressing that he or she has an emotional distress that needs help.

A sudden change in portion sizes, avoiding previously enjoyed foods, high calorie foods, and sudden weight loss are all warning signs that a child is developing an eating disorder.

Detected early, in the earliest stages is when the intervention is most effective in solving any type of disorder related to eating, such as anorexia or anorexia. The origin of a possible disorder of eating behavior is psychological: low self-esteem, tendency to extreme perfectionism, impulsivity or overvalued ideas of physical appearance. Self-esteem is the most common characteristic and the key risk factor in these disorders, which conditions a negative perception of their physical appearance.

Preadolescence and adolescence are key times where detection of an eating disorder is crucial. The most important thing is to go to a specialist at the first symptoms.

Warning signs of an eating disorder

1.- Food

• Follow restrictive diets
• Excessive preoccupation with everything related to food
• Interest in counting calories, diets, food composition ...
• Feeling of guilt after eating food
• Strange behaviors with food: eating standing up, playing with food, hiding it ...
• Locking yourself in the bathroom after every meal

2.- Weight

• Unjustified weight loss
• Fear of
• Practice self-induced vomiting
• Use of diuretics or laxatives

3.- Body image

• Misperception of your body image (like looking fat)
• Try to hide your body with loose clothing or avoiding going to the beach or pool

4.- Physical exercise

• Exercising excessively
• Purpose of using exercise to lose weight

5.- Behavior

• Constant personal dissatisfaction
• Depressed and irritable state
• Frequent mood swings
• Social isolation
• Concentration difficulty

• Anxiety, perfectionism, ... are personality traits typical of children at risk of suffering from an eating disorder.
• An eating disorder usually begins as a wake-up call to express that you are emotionally upset.
• The most important thing is to go to a specialist at the first symptoms.

Dra. Esther Martínez García Pediatric Specialist