Healthy Habits: Eating Disorders Awareness

This week is  this week being National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and I had a chance to interview Jennifer Lombardi, Executive Director of Eating Recovery Center of California about signs of eating disorders - and also some eating disorders you may not be aware of.

Eating disorders are often "hidden" disorders, but what are some signs that might clue family and friends in that a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder?

In the U.S. alone, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives¹. During National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 24 – March 2), Eating Recovery Center of California encourages everyone to be aware of signs and symptoms of a potential eating disorder in friends and loved ones, and to seek professional help if needed.

                                               

Here are a few signs of an eating disorder to be aware of:

1.       Dramatic weight loss

2.       Change in behaviors around food

3.       Depression and/or anxiety symptoms

4.       Finding laxatives, diet pills or diuretics

5.       Noticing a pattern of avoiding food

6.       Noticing a pattern of going to the bathroom after a meal

7.       Fatigue or dizziness

8.       Increased agitation or fighting about meals

9.       Excessive or compulsive exercise

10.     Sneaking or hoarding food

Most people traditionally think of anorexia or bulimia when they hear the word "eating disorder" - but there are really a lot of types of disordered eating, aren't there?

That’s right. Some examples of eating disorder behaviors are below. While most of these are not formally recognized medical terms, but they are term that have been coined by the media, public and doctors in recent years to describe some of these disordered behaviors.  

Binge eating disorder (BED):

Individuals with BED engage in regular episodes – defined as at least twice a week for a period of six months – of eating larger than normal amounts of food in a short amount of time (any two-hour period). These bingeing episodes are generally accompanied by an out-of-control feeling, and are often followed by intense feelings of disgust, depression or guilt.

Increase of binge-eating disorder in men and “Manorexia” (male anorexia)

Male anorexia and binge-eating disorder is a growing issue– more than 1 million males are fighting an eating disorder and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy forms of weight control, including skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting and taking laxatives.

Drunkorexia: According to mental health professionals, drunkorexia is the new trend among college students that combines extreme dieting like starvation or exercising heavily to offset alcohol calories for binge drinking at night. In a culture obsessed with thinness and dieting, combined with diet-focused alcohol advertising targeted at young people, college students are constantly on the receiving end of messages encouraging drinking and being “thin”, “beautiful” or “fit.”

Orthorexia: Orthorexia is the term used for going to such extreme measures to eat healthfully and cut things out of one’s diet that it actually becomes an obsession. You might have seen some of the news stories lately bringing this topic to the forefront, including MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinsk’s announcement in her new book that she suffers from orthorexia.

Pregorexia: According to a recent survey conducted by University College London, too many pregnant women are highly concerned about their weight and shape. Approximately 700 pregnant women were surveyed and 25% of them revealed their fears of gaining weight. Around 2% of them were exercising excessively, fast and misusing laxatives or diuretics so as not to gain weight during pregnancy.

How can parents help encourage healthy body image in children to lessen the likelihood of an eating disorder?

Here are the top ten ways to help prevent an eating disorder in your child:

1.       Have as many family meals together each week as possible

2.       Stop vilifying foods as “junk” or “healthy,” good” or bad”

3.       Make sure that a variety of foods are offered and accepted in the household

4.       Stop making disparaging comments about weight or appearance

5.       Emphasize the importance of body acceptance

6.       Educate girls and boys about normal change and body development, especially preparing them for puberty

7.       Do not push kids to engage in a sport or activity that they do not like – and if they grow tired of an activity, recognize that forcing them to continue can backfire

8.       Cook with your children as often as possible – kids often will eat a greater variety of foods if they have an opportunity to cook them

9.       Teach them critical thinking skills about images they see in the media

10.   Prepare them for negative “chatter” that they will hear from peers about food, weight and appearance