Your diet lecturing may be giving your kid an eating disorder.
Talking to teens and younger children about obesity can backfire, warns the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“Some adolescents may misinterpret what ‘healthy eating’ is and engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as skipping meals or using fad diets,” says a new report in the journal Pediatrics. “Parents should avoid comments about body weight and discourage dieting efforts that may inadvertently result in [eating disorders] and body dissatisfaction.”
After obesity and asthma, anorexia and bulimia are the most common chronic conditions in teens, and tend to develop during adolescence.
But the new clinical report notes that these disorders are on the rise in kids as young as 5, with hospitalizations spiking 119% between 1999 and 2006 in children under 12.
Some 40% to 60% of girls, ages 6 to 12, are already concerned about their weight, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.
Though white-teenage girls have traditionally been the face of eating disorders, the report says that an increasing number of younger boys and minorities are developing them. The health consequences from anorexic’s self-starvation include brittle bones, hair loss and kidney failure, while binging and purging from bulimia can cause gastric rupture, ulcers and tooth decay. Both can cause premature death.
Obesity and eating disorders seem like total opposites, but are actually closely related. The AAP identifies several common behaviors that often stem kids being told to diet or being teased about their weight. The result: kids eat too much, eat too little, or binge and purge.
So how do you strike the right balance?
The whole family should embrace good habits, the report says. That means sitting down to wholesome family dinners; stocking the kitchen with fruits and veggies, whole grains and water in lieu of fatty chips, cookies and sweetened drinks.
Loved ones should encourage a positive body image instead of focusing on what the scale reads.
