Nutrition and Eating Disorders

As children progress into their teen years, they become concerned about their appearance. A child’s body and hormones change during puberty. Many children at this point begin to feel self-conscious about their shape and size and their outlook on life can change for the worse. New social pressures are also introduced into a child’s life with the onset of puberty. health7

A child’s preoccupation about how heavy they are often leads to obsession to lose weight, causing unhealthy fluctuations and physical and emotional damage. Eating disorders typically begin in the late pre-teen years. Millions of teens develop eating disorders, and though they are more common with girls, boys do develop them. Eating disorders usually develop with a peculiar attitude toward food and in secrecy and are hidden from family and friends for years while the teen suffers silently.

There are preventative steps a parent can take in a child’s early years to help prevent an eating disorder from developing. A child’s self-esteem needs to be nurtured from an early age. Parents also need to promote nutrition and a child’s positive attitude toward their appearance. Parents should not assume that all is well with their teenagers eating habits if they are not told anything is wrong. Be aware of warning signs and talk with your teenager if you think there is a problem. Medical help is required if your child has an eating disorder.

There are different types of eating disorders. Eating disorders begin when the negative thoughts and feelings a child has about food and their body image disrupt normal daily activities and functions. Anorexia nervosa drives children to starve themselves to be thin and lose unhealthy amounts of weight. Children suffering from Bulimia find the urge to binge and vomit causing harmful weight fluctuations. The two eating disorders both include compulsive exercise. Compulsive exercise is one of the cues for parents to be aware of with eating disorders.

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3 Responses to “Nutrition and Eating Disorders”

  • Proper nutrition is essential for remaining healthy, fit and fine. But for that all it needs is proper eating. But some possess certain eating disorder which causes them to suffer from under nutrition.

  • Nutrition is an essential function required to be fulfilled in order to remain healthy, fit and fine. To accomplish that it needs proper eating. Persons suffering from eating disorder are more likely to suffer from nutritional disorder.

  • Eating disorders can be developed into alarming rate followed by addiction to foods. Eating disorders are of different types and it mostly affects children when they become paranoid towards foods.

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