Key Information for
School Professionals
Eating Disorders may begin as disordered eating behaviors at
very young ages
Studies are showing that disordered-eating behaviors begin as early as 5-8 years of age. These usually begin with complaints about body size or shape, male or female. What parent hasn’t heard..”Do these jeans make me look fat?” “I can’t eat that because someone called me fat at school during lunch.” “ I have to loose weight, I am always the last one picked for …” These messages are being programmed younger and younger, with re-enforcement by media images, teen celebrities, magazine images, and the focus on weight by our culture. The Harvard Eating Disorder Center conducted studies and found that children ages 8 to 10, approximately half of the girls and one-third of boys were dissatisfied with their size.
Individuals with clinically diagnosed anorexia or bulimia remember being teased as a child about their weight. They recall experiencing body dissatisfaction or fear of fat even though they were within the natural weight range for their age.
Binge eating disorder is a newly recognized condition that affects millions of people. People with binge eating disorder have varying degrees of obesity. Most have a long history of repeated efforts to diet and feel desperate about their difficulty in controlling food intake. Binge eating behaviors can begin during childhood.
The middle school years, grades fifth through seventh are the opportune times to recognize and discourage disordered eating behaviors. Remember that children learn what they see and hear. If a parent is constantly talking about being fat, not fitting into their clothes, calories and fat content in food, they are setting an example that could be dangerous in the future for their children. One mother told me that when her daughter came home from treatment for her eating disorder she said, “Mother, you have been on a diet all my life!” Innocent remarks, serious concerns about body weight and image are not restricted to our children….we also make that concern an issue in our lives. How many of us are really comfortable in our own skin? What kind of example are we setting not only for our daughters, sons, but our granddaughters and grandsons?
Six Key Messages:
· Eating Disorders may begin with disordered eating behaviors at very young ages
· Students’ ability to learn is affected by disordered eating and eating disorders
· The problem of eating disorders is a mental health as well as a physical health issue.
· Early detection of an eating disorder is important to increase the likelihood of successful treatment and recovery.
· Students of all ethnic and cultural groups are vulnerable to developing eating disorders.
· Each member of a school community can help create an environment that discourages disordered eating and promotes the early detection of eating disorders.
For more information or educational materials on eating
disorder please contact Lifelines Foundation for Eating Disorder at www.lfed.org or