Eating Disorders Blog

Psychologist Dan Gottlieb, in his Philadelphia Inquirer advice column, addresses a wide range of parental concerns. Recently, a mother inquired about her daughter's eating habits, worried that she's trying to hard to control her weight and may have anorexia.

"Clearly your daughter has a problem... But your daughter is not interested in treatment right now. So my recommendation is to find a good family therapist who specializes in eating disorders. And go as a whole family understanding that everyone needs help to make changes in the way your family is functioning."

Gottlieb also suggested that the mother seek help for her own anxieties, which resulted from a childhood spent covering up her sister's eating disorder. This history, says Dan, will greatly influence the mom's response to her daughter, and will help her deal with her daughter in a more productive manner. Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

Labels: awareness, parents

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An article appearing in The New York Times last week raised questions about parents who take public health messages to the extreme. Could parents' attempts to help kids eat healthy food be backfiring and causing disordered eating? An 8-year-old boy interviewed for the article said that he worries about calories and getting enough vitamins, but most of all he worries about sodium. "Sodium makes your heart beat faster, so it can create something really serious," he said. The boy's mother is proud of his nutritional knowledge, but nutritionists have begun expressing concerns that some parents are behaving obsessively.

Cynthia Bulik, the director of the eating disorders program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, commented for the article: "We're seeing a lot of anxiety in these kids. ... They go to birthday parties, and if it's not a granola cake they feel like they can't eat it. The culture has led them and their parents to take the public health messages to the extreme." (Source: www.nytimes.com)

Labels: parents, role-models, influences

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A new type of website is cropping up on the Internet. Known as "Thinspo" (short for "Thinspiration"), these pro-ana (pro-anorexia) and pro-mia (pro-bulimia) websites provide various forms of inspiration and advice for girls and women to starve themselves. Inspirational messages come in the form of photo montages of super-skinny models, tips for tricking doctors at weigh-ins, drastic (and sometimes lethal) weight-loss strategies, and pro-anorexia rock anthems like Superchick's song "Courage."

The sites also promote links to video sites like youtube.com, where anorexic girls proudly post photos and videos of their emaciated forms. These glimpses of normal girls in the throes of extreme anorexia have been dubbed "Real Girl Thinspo" and are often accompanied by encouragement from posters and viewers, such as "starve on, skinny b*tches." Other sub-forms of Thinspo include Celebrity Thinspo and Bones Thinspo.

Anorexia nervosa has the highest fatality rate of any mental illness; about 1 in 5 people who develop the disorder die from it. In light of this, experts and government officials are registering alarm at the growing popularity of pro-anorexia websites. In April 2008, for example, the French government proposed making the incitement of eating disorders illegal and punishable by heavy fines. (Source: themedium.blogs.nytimes.com)

Labels: parents, influences, peers

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Mothers who encourage dieting to lose weight may contribute to their child's developing an eating disorder, according to a new study from the University of Minnesota.

• Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer and her colleagues studied 365 teenage girls, many of whom were overweight.
• Forty-five percent told the researchers that their mothers encouraged dieting to lose weight.
• This group was two times more likely to binge eat, and five times more likely to engage in extreme weight control measures such as taking diet pills or laxatives, or vomiting after eating.
• Sixty-six percent of the mothers were on diets or talked about their weights, and 40% of the fathers were on diets.
• Children of these groups were more likely to use unhealthy weight control measures.
• Almost 60% of the girls said their family members teased them about their weights, and this group tended to be overweight and dissatisfied with their bodies.

"While parents who are concerned about their children's weight may encourage dieting with the best intentions, they need to know that talking about weight loss may have harmful consequences for their children's health," said Dr. Neumark-Sztainer. "I encourage parents to look for changes that can be made in the home environment to support healthier eating and physical activity among youth."

The study appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Labels: diet, parents, daughters, mothers

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 1 Comment