Essay on Anorexia and Food Refusal in Children

Eating Disorders are a set of serious disorders with underlying psychiatric foundations. An eating disorder occurs when exercise, body weight and shape become an unhealthy obsession (Stein, Merrick, & Latzer, 2011). People with eating disorders take physical concerns to the extremes that they take on abnormal eating habits. There are a variety of cases that lead to an eating disorder and can affect both men and women, however its prevalence primarily occur in adolescence (Ison & Kent, 2010; Stein et al., 2011). The complexity and challenges that occur during adolescents predisposes teens to developing an eating disorder. The period of adolescence is one of intense change, which can bring with it a great deal of stress, confusion and anxiety (Allen, Byrne, Oddy & Crosby, 2013). According to Wade, Keski-Rahkonen and Hudson (2011) 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). There are three main categories of eating disorders, anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS). Individuals with AN loose more weight than what is considered to be healthy for their particular height, age, gender, and development (Allen et al., 2013). In BN individuals binge eat and purge to compensate for the excessive eating. Purging may include induce vomiting or intake of laxatives that lead to bowel

Many people are unaware of the background of eating disorders. Women are more likely than men to develop an eating disorder and they usually develop in childhood before the age of 20 (Ross-Flanigan 1). Women as well as men can develop an eating disorder; it is just more likely for a woman to develop one. Eating disorders are usually developed in adolescent or childhood years when a person is influenced the most. Also “Eating disorders are psychological conditions that involve overeating, voluntary starvation, or both. Anorexia nervosa, anorexic bulimia, and binge eating are the most well-known types of eating disorders” (Ross-Flanigan 1). Many people assume that an eating disorder is when a person staves themselves; they do not realize that it can involve overeating as well. Some eating disorders also involve purging, but not all. People with an eating disorder fear gaining weight even when they are severely underweight. They do not lack an appetite (Ross-Flanigan 1). These people are

Eating disorders in children, like in adults, are generally viewed as a multi-determined syndrome with a variety of interacting factors, biological, psychological, familial and socio-cultural. It is important to recognize that each factor plays a role in predisposing, precipitating, or perpetuating the problem.

Nutrition is important to understand because it is a significant contributor to the health and wellness of a human being. Nutrition can determine the weight of a person, the performance of organs and the body’s ability to prevent or accelerate certain diseases. Health and nutrition can be influenced by several factors such as family, friends, peers as well as physical and mental stress. As a young child, the immediate family is the biggest influence on nutrition because they are the first role models and establish the initial habits that the individual will develop. Through daily meal plans given to children, they can develop a standard of care in regard to nutrition and then incorporate key food groups into their daily diet. A child’s

Anorexia nervosa, otherwise stated as anorexia, is an eating disorder that occurs when an individual restricts themselves from necessary energy intake which leads to significantly low body weight. Other characteristics of this disorder include: intense fear of becoming fat or gaining weight, persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, and disturbances of perception and experience of their own body weight and shape (DSM V, 2013). Effective treatments are still trying to be researched for this disorder, as there is not a “one size fits all” for people of all age groups, living situations, etc. Since adolescents with anorexia are such a vulnerable population,

Many children and adolescents not only express dissatisfaction with their figure, shape and weight, but also exhibit disordered eating behavior, such as binge eating (eating a large amount of food with a sense of lack of control), food restriction, laxative abuse and vomiting. For children and adolescents, eating disorders can overlap in many instances. As an example, some children alternate between periods of anorexia and bulimia. Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood. However, research has shown that they can start in childhood, too. Females are much more vulnerable. Only an estimated 5% to 15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male. With binge eating, the number rises to 35%

The Inpatient Program “medically stabilizes young people with serious eating disorders” through medical monitoring, nutritional rehabilitation, psychiatric consultation and group programming (SickKids, 2014). The Outpatient Program involves family therapy with a therapist and consultation with a dietitian, along with medical monitoring. For children younger than 13 years of age, an additional support of therapy is offered—multifamily groups and separate groups for the parents and their child. The Day Hospital offers care to patients with severe eating disorders who were already in a program and would need longer term intensive support for recovery. This long-term support operates five days a week, and treatment runs for an average of six months. Additionally, the programs offer a two-part family education series for families participating in the treatment programs. Topics covered include: information about eating disorders, medical complications, approach to nutritional recovery and describes treatments offered. Part two focuses on how parents can support their child with an eating disorder to resume normal eating (SickKids, 2014). The hospital is a good resource because it uses an interdisciplinary approach to treat children and youth who suffer from the disorder. It also involves families in patient

In this article “Fighting Anorexia: No One to Blame” it discusses the struggles and challenges children face as young as 8 years old and teens from 13 to 18 years of age when dealing with the eating disorder “Anorexia Nervosa.” Which is defined in our text as an “eating disorder characterized by self-starvation” (Bee, pg. 384). The staff of “Newsweek” also discuss who or what is to blame for anorexia nervosa in the past parents have been blamed when their children have shown signs in regards to this disorder. Research has shifted from blaming the parents to the possibility anorexia might have some links to mental disorder, genetics or even environmental factors which can influence the disorder. Lastly, the article discusses various

Eating disorders have become an increasing public health problem once thought to be an affliction amongst young women, now an epidemic across culture and gender boundaries. Anorexia gives rise to serious socio-economic and bio-psychological circumstances of our ever vast, growing society. Awareness of eating disorders have increased but perhaps only in proportion to its advancement of its research and treatment. That which still leaves us in a position for a much greater demand for education and heightened awareness of this perplexing disease.

With children as early as age 7 showing dissatisfaction with their body, and as young as 9 starting dieting, eating disorders are a serious issue in our society. Taking a look at perceptions, behaviors, and medical issues associated with the disorders of anorexia and bulimia, scholars have tried to categorize and find answers to the problems which certain adolescents suffer. In this paper I focused on the two major eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia.

To begin with, we need to know about the different types of eating disorders and why people develop them in order to find a solution. Anorexia is a type of eating disorder that involves people refusing to eat or eating extremely tiny amounts of food and exercise vigorously. Researchers hypothesize that anorexia may be caused by biological, psychological, and social factors (Ross-Flanigan 1329). One possible cause is that the parents of the people that develop anorexia are too overprotective and have set impractically high expectations from them (Ross-Flanigan 1329). A reason why this may cause people to develop an eating disorder, is that they are under such immense pressure to fulfill their parents’ ideals. Because of this pressure that they feel, they could start to think that not eating is

Behavioral feeding and Eating Disorder in infants and children has a huge impact in our society. It has a broad spectrum, ranking from mild issues that do not involve major health related threats complications for severe issues, such as underfeeding and the need for enteral feeding. Because of a high popularity and the prompt detection, effects, types, environmentally factors, and treatment options of pediatric and non-pediatric behavioral feeding and eating disorders can be prevented.

“A pediatric feeding disorder is a condition in which a child does not eat enough to provide adequate nutrition, calories, or hydration. Behavior deficits or excesses that inhibit the intake may result in an infant or child being characterized as failure to thrive (FTT)”("What is a Feeding Disorder? | Does your child have one?"). To diagnose and treat a pediatric feeding disorder a speech pathologist must perform an evaluation to figure out the appropriate treatment (Parr 2016). Signs and symptoms of a feeding disorder in a child include a child being a picky eater, gaging, choking, and vomiting during meals ("What is a Feeding Disorder? | Does your child have one?"). These children may also refuse to eat, and have difficulty gaining weight

It is imperative for children to develop with healthy nutrition during their first five years of life in order to sustain a healthy well being. When a child experiences stunted growth, they often have difficulties learning and

     When I think of anorexia, a few things come to mind. I think of really bad episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch in which females, ususally teenagers, starve themselves and take diet pills. The eating problem is always resolved within the timespan of one 30 minute episode. From the research I've done thus far on anorexia, I now know that this is a very unrealistic representation of what is actually a very serious disease.