Eating disorders are widely recognised as complex, mental health conditions which have a severe impact upon the sufferer's mental, physical, psychological health and well-being. As early diagnosis is one of the key factors associated with good recovery, it is therefore important to understand impacts of feeding disorders in addition to eating disorder warning signs and health implications for children. Key areas to be explored in this article are listed below.
- What are Feeding Disorders?
- Anorexia Warning Signs
- Physical Complications
- Psychological Complications
What are Feeding Disorders?
Feeding disorders are disorders which impact children and may have serious health consequences. Common examples of feeding disorders include failure to thrive, pica (eating substances such as clay or paper) and rumination disorder. The latter involves the child either re-chewing or spitting out food that they have both partially digested and regurgitated. As a result, parents may often feel rather distressed and be unaware of why such behaviours are happening to their child.
Anorexia Warning Signs
As previously highlighted, early diagnosis of an eating disorder is more likely to result in successful recovery. It is for this reason education on early warning signs is crucial. Warning signs in children may include the following: depressed mood, obsessive behavior, excessive exercise, distress at mealtimes (if pushed to consume "unsafe" foods), rapid weight loss and extreme restraint around food. Children may also begin to behave in an extremely rigid manner and engage in ritualised eating behaviour. Examples of rituals may involve the individual always eating a slice of toast by first attempting to break it into four exact pieces and then removing each crust before beginning to take small bites in a very precise manner.
Physical Complications of Feeding Disorders
There are many extremely serious, some even life-threatening, physical complications associated with anorexia in children. Key examples of such complications may include the following: severe osteoporosis, dehydration (causing rapid deterioration), failure to grow and develop including delay in puberty/menstruation and heavy toll of severe emaciation. In contrast to adults, the effects of dehydration may be considerably more rapid and dangerous to health and well-being. In addition, as children have considerably less body fat than adults, weight loss is often very extreme and may in a much shorter time frame result in the child becoming emaciated and thus critically unwell.
Psychological Complications of Feeding Disorders
Key psychological complications associated with anorexia in children may include the following: low sense of self-worth, regression in behaviour such as temper tantrums and symptoms of depression. They may also feel a sense of rejection or punishment through being unable to comprehend the need for necessary residential or in-patient treatment.
Sources:
Freeman, C. (2002) Overcoming Anorexia Nervosa London: Constable Robinson
Shepphird, S. (2010) 100 Questions & Answers About Anorexia Nervosa Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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