An athlete and a scholar at the top of her junior class, a University of California student fell into a bulimic coma that lasted three weeks. Suffering extensive brain damage, she will spend the rest of her life attending an extended care facility. Her mother blames herself for not having prevented this tragedy.

Ninety percent of the 10 million victims of anorexia and bulimia in the U.S. today are children, some as young as age five. Abigail Natenshon, MA LCSW, eating disorder expert, psychotherapist, and author of  When Your Child Has An Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers, and publisher of www.empoweredparents.com and www.empoweredkidZ.com, claims that though not the cause their child’s eating disorder, parents are in the best position to identify predisposing attitudes and habits early, before they become problems leading to disorders that kill and maim. Early problem recognition saves lives.

Most parents are unable to identify early warning signs of disease even when looking right at them. “Early signs of disease typically resemble healthy self-discipline. Eating disorders are more likely to show up in kitchens and family bathrooms than in doctors’ offices; like it or not, parents are their child’s most effective diagnosticians.”


10 Keys to Recognizing Early Signs

• Has your child recently lost or gained an excessive amount of weight?
  
• Is your child a quirky eater?  Afraid of certain foods?  Ritualistic in eating habits?
  
• Does your child suffer from low self-esteem?
  
• Does your family rarely eat meals together?  Is anyone in your house dieting?
  
• Does your child worry about being fat even when he or she is not?
  
• Does your child feel powerless or out of control in other life spheres, beyond eating?
  
• Has your child been teased by peers about being overweight?
  
• Does your child avoid solving problem?  Being in touch with feelings?
  
• Are there addictions in your family?
  
• Does your child disappear into the bathroom during and following meals?
  

“Yes” may mean your child could be struggling with body image concerns, beliefs, behaviors or anxieties that put him or her at high risk to develop an eating disorder.

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About Abigail H. Natenshon
Abigail H. Natenshon, MA LCSW has been a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in the treatment of eating disordered individuals and their families for the past 28 years. She is co-founder and director of Eating Disorder Specialists of Illinois; A Clinic without Walls, and the author of When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers (Jossey Bass, San Francisco, October, 1999). Visit her web sites at www.empoweredparents.com.and www.empoweredkidZ.com