Kids are under a lot of pressure these days and these pressures can show themselves through various ways. This article will discuss the all too common eating disorders that affect too many of us.

To begin with, most people think eating disorders only afflict women. Not true, men suffer as well. Eating disorders are commonly found in male athletes, when a sport requires them to meet a certain weight class (i.e. wrestling). Girls of course suffer from these illnesses for many different reasons. Women are taught from an early age that skinny equates beautiful. It begins with a little girl’s first Barbie doll, and is continuously reinforced by society through ads, fashion models, TV and numerous other venues. The fact is that being healthy, intelligent and having a pleasant personality is far more beautiful than anything else. A healthy body is a strong body. Your body should have good muscle tone, an educated mind, and to the surprise of many, about 25% of your weight should be fat.

Girls begin to feel that if they are not the skinniest, no one will like them or think they’re attractive. They feel they need to be thin to attract men. Very often, women think the only thing they can control in their lives is the food they put into their mouths. Therefore, they begin to take normal dieting and exercising to extreme. Suddenly there is no fat or sugar content in anything they eat and they obsess about eating food that they do not know the origin of, for fear that it may contain too much fat and sugar. They exercise at least every day to be sure that they have burned off any calories that they have put in their bodies. Their entire focus becomes their weight, their eating habits and exercise. If this sounds familiar to you, then you or someone you know, may have an eating disorder. In the rest of this article, I’m going to discuss the symptoms and effects of the two most common disorders: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa.

Let’s begin with Anorexia. This illness happens most often with girls and women, and will have all of the symptoms described in the previous paragraph. People with anorexia become dangerously thin, but will always consider themselves fat. They will weigh 15% less than their normal weight for their height. People that have anorexia, very often have additional psychological problems like depression or anxiety. Very often, they will also use alcohol or drugs to excess, vomit after eating and abuse laxatives or other weight loss drugs.

Bulimia has different symptoms than Anorexia. People that have Bulimia “binge and purge”. In other words, they eat large amounts of food and then throw up what they ate as soon as they’re done eating. This is the type of disorder usually found in men and boys, and found too often in girls. People with this illness will usually head straight to the bathroom after eating a meal. They may also hide food to binge on at a later time. It is harder to spot people with this illness as they very often maintain a normal weight and size.

The big question is what does all of this bingeing, purging and starving do to your body. Of course, the most serious result from an eating disorder is death. Pure and simple, if you do not weigh enough, and your body is not properly nourished, you will die. Instead of your body eating quality food that it demands, it will begin to feed off of itself to survive, consuming organs and muscle tissue. As disgusting as that sounds, this is exactly what happens. Anorexia can cause damage to your heart, liver and kidneys; your menstrual cycle will stop; your hair may fall out; fingernails may become brittle; joints may swell, you can become anemic (lack of iron), get headaches, and have a constant feeling of cold due to the lack of insulation in your body. Bulimia can cause a lack of potassium leading to heart disease; tooth decay from excessive acids brought up during vomiting; swollen cheek glands also caused by vomiting; constant stomach pain; stomach and kidney damage and the loss of your period.

Eating disorders can span generations. Parents will pass their eating patterns to their children. Parents that consume too much of the wrong foods and not enough of the healthy foods will teach their children to eat the same way. This is why overweight parents usually produce overweight children. When a parent is obsessed with the way they or their children look, and the type and amount of food they are eating, their children will also become obsessive. Be sure to teach your children to eat well-balanced meals and healthy snacks.

Dr. Sandra Hassink, Director of the Weight Management Clinic at the DuPont Hospital for Children, states very simply, “Unsupervised weight loss is not normal at anytime during childhood. If someone starts skipping meals or won’t eat anything that has the slightest bit of sugar, fat or calories, it’s possible they may have an eating disorder.” People with eating disorders can be cured, however it’s important not to delay. A thorough physical and psychological exam is the beginning. Parents can play a crucial role by always reassuring their child that they look great. All body types are different and equally beautiful. It is important to eat balanced healthy meals and to exercise regularly; however, it is not healthy to take it to the extreme. Eating disorders should NEVER be ignored; they are a matter of life and death.

A great book to read: “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf !