I don't know what to do or where to turn.
I believe my child is developing an eating disorder.
My daughter, nearly 10, has developed signs/symptoms of an eating disorder. For some time now I have noticed her lack of food in her lunch box (she refuses to let me pack it, she does it herself) and after consciously paying attention to it she is also eating very little at home.
I have managed to get her eating something more over the last week by letting her pick anything she wants at the shops and talking to her about my concerns but I have nothing left to think of or help her.
My GP was not overly concerned and said it is normal at this age to do such things but this is ongoing over a matter of months. My child is a twig and thinks she is fat, she runs laps of the garden after school for 'fitness' but I know it is she is concerned about how she looks. She has not got an ounce of fat on her and is already an unhealthy weight but there just doesn't seem to be a place to turn for help.
I just want to help her be happy and healthy but it is a struggle getting her to understand that it is healthy to eat
My child has an eating disorder
My child has an eating disorder
Posted in:
Parenthood Guilt, Health & Wellbeing
8 Replies
Different GP and insist on a referral to an eating disorder psychologist
Trust your instinct and see a new Gp for a second opinion and specialist.
This sounds a lot like my behaviour at 12yo, I ended up developing a full blown eating disorder and have suffered for years because nothing was done in those early stages!
It's better to act early even if you are overreacting
Trust your instinct and see a new Gp for a second opinion and specialist.
This sounds a lot like my behaviour at 12yo, I ended up developing a full blown eating disorder and have suffered for years because nothing was done in those early stages!
It's better to act early even if you are overreacting
Sustagen. My eldest is at risk of an eating disorder and if she gets sick she loses weight FAST we have to use it to keep weight on.
We buy alot of preferred foods she has a thing for rice sushi and noodles.
But strawberries salad kiwi fruit and tuna we can get into her.
We found any level of stress and she stops eating so watch what else is going on. Eating disorders involve alot more than just not eating.
If really concerned take her to a paediatrician or child and youth mental health service. But they don't diagnose eating disorders in young children. One of the diagnostic criteria is that their period stops. But if they haven't started it is impossible to say it has stopped.
Eating disorder psychologists are few and far between even for adults it is highly unlikely you will find one. Calling mental health triage (google) you can refer her yourself to the child and youth mental health service without need of a GP referral.
In all honesty I doubt she is anorexic at this point but early psychological intervention can head it off and speak to the school about keeping a box of food there.
Tbh in 8 years the only thing that's gotten her eating is the psychiatrist telling her he wont treat her adhd unless she is eating properly.
She is doing alright if we can't see her ribs in stark relief without sustagen.
She is 14 now had the problem since she was 3.
Don't ask how long it took her to creep over the 20 kg mark....I lost track.
We try not to be militant about school lunches. There are endless selections she could make requiring minimal work on her part. She just doesn't throw them in her bag. Her teachers aid has for the last 3 terms made sausage rolls with her and kept them in a freezer at school or hit me up for a term budget of $20-$50 and we have done the boxes of long life snacks at school for a number of years. Between the adhd and anxiety keeping her organised is like trying to picking up a cat.....its a liquid.
Instead we focus on breakfast and dinner...she actively avoids breakfast although we do sometimes manage to pin her down with up and go and belvita or pancakes. Although she apparently eats a truck load at break club....we have no idea why, we have the same cereals here.
And dinner. Its ironic...one daughter we have to put a cap on no more than seconds or she would be back for a fifth and sixth serve. The other can't leave the table without finishing her plate.
But my mother had anorexia nervosa quite a number of times she was given 24 hours to live....if she survives the day she has a chance...
They are increasingly finding a predisposition to developing eating disorders is genetic.
Thank you. I hope she is still doing well.
My daughter is not anorexic but she defiantly has a problem with food which may lead to it down the track if we don't head it off now. She also has autism which is also impacting on the way she is behaving.
Google has shown me a psychologist near by that works with children with both autism and eating issues.
All I want is for her to be healthy but currently she is 25 kg (barely) and it is possible to see definition in bones at her ribs, spine and her joints. She was 50th percentile (nearly 30kg) not even a year ago so this has come about quiet quickly
Ahhh yeah no my daughter at 14 is barely acheiving those figures. If you have a local specialist grab them. It can be held at bay.
We have kept it at bay for most her life.
But if they gave her the treatments for adhd she won't get hungry and could very easily starve herself to death so eating HAS to become routine before they can treat.
School guidance counsellor is sometimes a good place to start, too.
I second going to the GP for a referral to a psychologist.
I also think sometimes being armed with knowledge can be really helpful. I remembered a documentary I watched a little while ago on YouTube about anorexia in childhood and wonder if it might be something you wanted to take a look at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LSIYoQ_9Cvk
The is also a book called The Boy Who Loved Apples. From memory I think it is am Australian author who detailed her journey towards recovery with her son and the different support and treatment that they tried