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Parents have a key role in preventing eating disorders starting in early childhood. By encouraging an active lifestyle, healthy eating, and positive self esteem, parents can combat negative influences of social pressures and the media. But, if you suspect or know your child has an eating disorder, early diagnosis and care is essential.
There are many factors that lead to eating disorders. Just as genetics determines body shape and size, it also influences a person's susceptibility to developing an eating disorder. In certain individuals, restricting food intake through dieting can trigger an eating disorder.
There is no way to completely prevent eating disorders but below are certain things that may drastically reduce the chance of your child developing an eating disorder.
We offer programs called ParentTalk which engage parents in conversations that highlight what parents can do to raise kids with a healthy relationship to food and their body and to enhance self-esteem, so as to prevent the potential for developing an eating disorder.
If you are interested in hosting a ParentTalk in your home, please email us or find an upcoming event on our website.
Your own relationship to your body is a significant influence on your child's developing body image. Both mothers and fathers should be careful to not criticize their own bodies or their child's body.
A Chance to Heal promotes an overall positive self -image, including active body awareness. Yoga, meditation, and other well-being activities can be effective in promoting a healthy relationship to anyone's body.
Promote a healthy body image by praising kids for who they are and what they accomplish, not how they look.
Emphasize health rather than "thinness" and encourage activities such as walking, swimming, and biking that can be done as a family.
Teasing can be fun, but it can also be painful. We encourage you to not allow any teasing about physical appearance.
Healthy self-esteem is not just about preventing eating disorders. Poor self-esteem and self-objectification has been linked to depression, teenage pregnancy, teenage smoking, and lower test scores.
Having a mother/sister/friend on a diet is one of the highest risk factors for developing an eating disorder. Research shows that 90% of dieters gain back every pound they lose. This loss/gain sets people up for binge/purge cycles (yo-yo dieting) and leads to poor self-esteem.
Instead, enjoy good food and encourage your kids to enjoy healthy eating. There are no "bad foods" in moderation, but replacing processed foods in your house with fresh fruits and vegetables can encourage healthy behaviors. See this internet article on the benefits of cooking with kids.
Psychology Today discusses the consequences of parents restricting food intake.
If you are considering going on a diet to lose weight or want to put your child on a diet, talk to a physician or nutritionist. The statistics on dieting indicate that most weight lost via a diet gets gained withing a year or two. A good nutritionist will assist in making habit changes, emphasizing health over weight loss and many will help you go shopping or go to a restaurant to learn to make healthy choices while ordering.
Bodies can change quickly as children become teenagers and weight gain is very normal during this time period. Girls develop curves, and both boys and girls start to eat many more calories. Teenagers might not understand that these body changes are a normal part of development. A great book for girls is Body Drama by Nancy Redd.
If you do not talk to your child about puberty, someone else will. A quick search on the internet revealed millions of entries on puberty filled with wrong or misleading information. Make sure that your child is getting good information from a trusted source.
TV, magazines, newspapers, internet, radio shows, and music send hundreds of messages to kids. While there is no way to avoid the idea that you must be skinny to be beautiful , you can teach your kids to challenge those messages that might be harmful.
Teach them to ask simple questions: Who created the message? Who is being represented in the message? Why was this message sent?
Studies have shown that commenting on a television shows' message can alter the influence of the message. Contradicting stereotypical behavior and explaining manipulation in the program helps children question the validity of the show.
A family history of: eating disorders, depression, sexual abuse, alcohol or drug dependency, anxiety, depression, and obsessive/compulsive disorder are risk factors for developing disordered eating patterns.
