|
From Obesity to
Anorexia
Recapturing the
lost art of Healthy
Eating offers
Simple
Solutions to Complex
Questions
by:
Abigail H.
Natenshon, MA,
LCSW, GCFP
At the recent conference of the International Congress on
Obesity, childhood
obesity was
described as being
“as big a threat as
global warming and
bird flu.” At the
same time, with
girls as young as
age five becoming
increasingly
sensitive about
their weight and
body image, the
average age of onset
of anorexia has
dropped
precipitously from
13 to nine. In a
recent survey, young
girls indicated that
they would rather
have cancer, lose
both parents, or
live through a
nuclear holocaust
than be fat. The
fact is that
children who diet
and restrict food
are as much at risk,
medically and
psychologically, as
children who overeat
and become obese;
both conditions
foster anxiety,
depression, poor
self-esteem, body
image concerns and
in some instances,
eating disorders.
Overeating and under
eating, though they
may appear to be
polarities, are in
fact, flip sides of
the same coin,
opposite ends of the
same continuum; the
common thread they
share is the lost
art of healthy
eating.
At any age, dieting as a weight management technique is
draconian. It is an
approach to food
management and self
management that
indicates a basic
misunderstanding
about how the body
works and what it
needs, about how
food works and what
it does. By feeling
compelled to rely on
external controls
rather than on
internal ones,
dieting children
lose a sense of
centeredness, trust,
safety and control
within themselves.
Dieting numbs hunger
and satiety cues,
damages the
functioning of the
metabolism and so
sabotages the
quality of one’s
relationship with
food that dieting
children today tend
to become tomorrow’s
overweight adults.
Any behavioral
extreme is
unhealthy;
self-starvation
ultimately leads to
gorging, the benign
diet can ultimately
lead to anorexia or
bulimia in the
genetically
susceptible child.
A child’s fear of
eating a single
cookie is as
dangerous a sign of
unhealthy eating as
binging on an entire
bag. By the time
girls have reached
the first grade, 50
percent have been on
diets; by the eighth
grade, 80 percent
have dieted. On any
given day, 45
percent of women and
25 percent of men
are on diets.
Dieting parents run
the risk of
instilling the
belief in their
child that food is
fattening, food is
“the enemy.”
Parents have their
jobs cut out for
them.
Seven tips for
raising healthy
eaters:
-
Parents must
first know
themselves and
be certain that
the lessons they
teach their
children are
what they
intend. Parents
need to model
healthy
eating and
exercise in
their own home.
-
Parents need to
learn what truly
healthy eating
is; healthy
eating includes
three meals a
day consisting
of all the food
groups…healthy
meals are
varied,
balanced, and
most
importantly,
eaten
fearlessly.
There are no bad
foods. Healthy
eating is the
ability to eat
everything, as
long as it is in
moderation.
-
As teachers,
parents need to
refute commonly
held myths such
as… food is
fattening,
nobody eats
breakfast;
fat-free eating
is healthy
eating; it’s
okay to skip
meals when not
hungry; a Power
Bar and a Diet
Coke is lunch.
-
Parents need to
cook and serve
meals, feeding
their family,
nutritionally
and
emotionally.
Family meals
provide the
perfect
opportunity to
emotionally
connect to and
converse with
loved ones at
the end of the
day, while
providing
parents a bird
eye view of
their child’s
eating habits
and concerns.
-
Parents need to
listen actively
to their child
in such a way
that the child
becomes capable
of listening to
herself. “Mom,
am I fat?”
demands an
intelligent and
purposeful
response. A
problem cannot
be resolved
unless it is
recognized and
defined.
-
If your child is
overweight, help
her learn to eat
differently,
not less,
and to engage in
activities that
will get her
blood flowing.
-
Never lose sight
of the fact that
body shape and
size are
partially
genetically
determined, the
result of nature
as well as
nurture. The
child of two
obese parents
stands an 80
percent chance
of being obese;
the child of one
obese parent
holds a 40%
chance, and the
child with no
obesity in his
family has a 15
percent chance
of becoming
obese. Eating
disorders too
are genetically
predetermined,
which accounts
for the fact
that only one
sibling in a
family may
develop a
disorder.
Enlightened parents who become empowered teachers, role models
and communicators
have the potential
to virtually
immunize their
children from the
ravages of
disordered eating
and eating
disorders. Their
influence supersedes
the pernicious
effects of the media
and peer pressure.
The healthfully
eating child is a
child who is
self-aware,
self-responsive,
self-determining and
self-regulatory. The
child who eats well
knows how to nurture
and care for
herself… in life
spheres that extend
far beyond eating
and weight
management. How we
eat is how we live.
Abigail Natenshon,
MA LCSW, GCFP is a
psychotherapist who
has specialized in
the treatment of
eating disorders
with individuals and
families for the
past 36 years.
Natenshon is the
founder and director
of Eating
Disorder Specialists
of Illinois, and
the author of When
Your Child Has An
Eating Disorder: A
Step-by-Step
Workbook for Parents
and Other Caregivers.
For free resources
or to have Abigail
speak at your next
parental or
professional group
go to
http://www.empoweredparents.com
|
|
