Eating Disorders – What Should Parents Know?
According to Statistics Canada data, approximately one million Canadians meet the diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder (ED).
Eating Disorders are often diagnosed during teenage years as they represent a tumultuous life period for many young people.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says:
“Teens who develop eating disorders are showing signs of a personal struggle.”
PHAC also has an incredible resource for parents/caregivers on identifying and responding to suspected eating disorders in teenagers, and I highly recommend any interested parties review that as a compliment to today’s post.
Some of the major warning signs they identify include:
Excessive focus on calories, food and “healthy eating”
Negative self-talk regarding body image, weight and shape
Restriction of food intake ( explicit or hidden) or food avoidance/meal skipping
This brings us to the subject of today’s article, which in fact was written ( under my review, scrutiny & supervision of course!) by my new writing volunteer Mashaal Junaid – a third year nutrition student and aspiring dietitian currently attending Toronto Metropolitan University.
Mashaal thoroughly enjoys the clinical side of nutrition and dietetics and is strongly committed to acquiring and providing high level evidence-based knowledge relating to the role of dietary habits and human health.
When we brainstormed potential topics for our first piece together, and she brought to the table, I knew right away it was as important to do as it was important to do right.
My hope is that we’ve accomplished the latter with today’s piece which highlights important predictors of eating disorder symptoms and offers up important guidance and insights to parents to help ensure a healthy interaction with their teenage children as it relates to food and food intake.
Above and beyond today’s post I once again recommend this exceptional Public Health Agency Of Canada resource as a starting point for all concerned parents.
With that said, let’s get to today’s article – courtesy of Mashaal Junaid.
In the introduction to today’s post we identified some of the…
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