Diet culture promotes the idea that weight loss is a meaningful, good and healthy pursuit in life. When we recover from an eating disorder, we must work to eradicate the belief that our health and self-worth are based on our weight. This is hard because diet culture is absolutely everywhere. There are a lot of … Continue reading What parents need to know about diet culture and eating disorder recovery
We live in a dangerous time during which parents believe they are responsible for controlling or maintaining their children's weight. Parents believe that if they don't control their children's food intake, their child will become fat, which is considered by many to be a fate worse than death. According to Ellyn Satter, a well-known expert … Continue reading How to feed your child without fear of “bad” food and weight gain
Question: My daughter has gained weight with puberty, and her dad is constantly bugging her about it. We divorced over a decade ago, which makes it hard for me to help her since I’m not there for most of the conversations. She has told me that he frequently brings up her body size, and tells … Continue reading Q&A: Her dad gives her brother seconds, but not her
The most powerful emotional shield our children utilize when they are suffering is emotional withdrawal. They may withdraw slowly or abruptly, but the overall goal of the withdrawal is to protect themselves from perceived danger in their relationship with us, their parents. Children can withdraw behind many different barriers, including: Physical isolation (e.g. always in … Continue reading Emotional withdrawal in the parent-child relationship can be a red flag for eating disorders and other dangerous behaviors
One of the biggest problems with eating disorders is that they rob us of our intuitive and natural relationship with food. Parents who are helping a child recover from an eating disorder can be incredibly helpful as we gradually go from disordered eating to having a normal relationship with food. In this article we identify … Continue reading Helping your child become a “normal eater” after an eating disorder
So-called clean eating* is very trendy right now, inspiring people of all ages to pursue a “clean” diet. The clean eating movement includes avoiding processed foods and eating raw, unrefined produce. This often becomes a raw vegan diet, and it is raising red flags everywhere for eating disorder specialists who are reporting an alarming trend … Continue reading No, you may not follow a “clean eating” plan – why parents need to prohibit the clean eating trend at home to prevent eating disorders
By Anonymous My daughter had a brain tumor at age 2 that caused morning vomiting through age 6.* She survived due to early intervention that included craniotomies and physical therapy. She was diagnosed with social anxiety at age 6. She refused to drink water at school because she did not want to use the bathroom … Continue reading Our family’s story of our 13-year-old daughter’s recovery from anorexia with Family Based Treatment (FBT)
Purging behavior includes the use of self-induced vomiting, the use of laxatives, diuretics and weight-loss medication, and exercise. While the majority of purging begins with a simple goal of controlling weight, it is important to understand that purging can serve a variety of purposes in our lives. We are putting this information forward to help … Continue reading Four reasons we purge: what parents need to know about purge behavior
Dismantling fatphobia and weight stigma, as well as other systems of body oppression at a systemic and institutional level, will be necessary if we are to put an end to eating disorders. The discrimination facing larger bodies is serious: weight stigma has been shown to impact mental and physical health by increasing risk for elevated … Continue reading Social Justice, Fatphobia, and Eating Disorders, by Meghan Cichy, RDN
No parent wants to hear that their child has a problem, and eating disorders, like all mental disorders, carry a stigma that can be especially hard to handle. I wish we lived in a world in which we treated mental health disorders in the same way we do physical health. If your child had a … Continue reading What to do when you are told or suspect that your child has an eating disorder, by Beth Mayer, LICSW
