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Home › Articles › Body Image › Thin Is Too In

Thin Is Too In

Eating Disorders and How They Affect Our Children

By Donna Smith

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After confronting their daughter, Wheaton's parents put her in therapy immediately. Wheaton saw counselors and was hospitalized in the eating disorder wing of a psychiatric hospital for two months. She continued to see an eating disorder expert on an outpatient basis, but continued to binge and purge.

"To be honest, I wasn't ready to stop," says Wheaton. "When I finally realized that my life consisted of little else besides obsessing about food, I was able to slowly recover. But I'm sure I wouldn't have reached the breaking point without a patient and wise therapist who was trained in eating disorder treatment, and helped me to see the relationship between my eating disorder and my emotions."

Even with treatment, many patients struggle the rest of their lives. "It's a 'weak link' that will most likely surface during times of stress," says Dr. Aronowitz. "Research has found that one half of patients with anorexia nervosa recover and that up to 25 percent of patients are disabled severely by their disease. As many as 15 percent of the men and women, boys and girls, who are diagnosed as having anorexia nervosa will die from that disorder this year."

But many do recover fully. "It differs for everyone," says Golman. "It depends how long the eating disorder has been going on. The earlier the onset, the harder it is to treat. If caught early and with a comprehensive treatment approach, recovery from an eating disorder can be successful."

"I am very aware that I have a different relationship with food than someone who has never had an eating disorder," says Wheaton. "I'm careful to make good choices about what I eat because compulsive eating puts me in danger of relapse. I also try to stay honest about how I'm feeling."

Parental Strategies to Help Prevent Eating Disorders

Ronni Litz Julien, a registered dietitian and vice president of the Julien Nutrition Institute in Miami, Fla., offers these suggestions:

  • Be a role model. If your daughter watches you starve yourself and it's OK with you, then it must be acceptable for her, also. If you pass every mirror in the neighborhood or in your home and look at it in 10 different angles, this must be normal to your child, and they will follow suit.
  • Avoid heavy discussions of food, body, eating and weight at home. Food is personal and needed for nourishment, and as long as parents teach the basic understanding of food, nutrition and the importance of eating healthy, children should get a healthful, appropriate message.
  • As soon as you see any warning signs, go right to a physician for help.
  • Get educated as a parent on how to teach healthy eating behaviors.

Dr. Abby Aronowitz, a psychologist and author of Your Final Diet (Single Star Press, 2003), adds the following advice:

  • Have healthy foods in the house – fruits, veggies and whole grains with a variety of lean proteins, and cook without lots of added fat.
  • Build in some activity for the family or a sport for the child (unless their weight is dangerously low).
  • Most important, parents should respect their children's boundaries, not comment about their weight and certainly avoid making children feel their body is not thin or fat enough. Criticism is the worst!
  • Don't try to control their food directly or make comments about their eating. Work more on your relationship; spend time enjoying each other and communicating, so the root of the problem is resolved instead of the symptom.


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