January is Physical Health and Nutrition Month at Teen Health Connection

The start of a new year is often filled with resolutions and a focus on diet changes and exercise. For most teens, this can mean the start of healthy habits and lifestyle improvements. However, an increased focus on these things can sometimes serve as a catalyst for more serious patterns of disordered eating and exercising for some teens. One in seven men and one in five women will experience an eating disorder by age 40, and in 95% of those cases, the disorder begins by age 25.

There are four main types of eating disorders that can impact adolescents, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. The impact of these disorders can last a lifetime, with potential health consequences such as osteoporosis, anemia, infertility, and brain damage.

This month’s e-newsletter features Chantal Otelsberg, MS, RDN, LDN, Teen Health Connection’s Registered Dietitian with the Center for Disordered Eating, and the article designed to help parents better understand the issue of eating disorders among teens, ways to recognize warning signs, and community resources.

How do you know if your teen may be struggling with disordered eating?

Eating disorders are serious, biologically influenced medical illnesses marked by severe disturbances to one’s eating behavior. Youth struggling with disordered eating may become fixated or obsessed with their weight loss, body weight or shape, and controlling their food intake. These can all be signs of an eating disorder, and can affect people of all ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, body weights, and genders. They often appear during the teen years and through young adulthood based on time of development, media, and influence from friends and peers. Eating disorders can also develop during childhood, and recent trends have shown a development later in life as well.

Teens can develop varying types of eating disorders. Determining if your teen has an eating disorder can present a challenge as they may not show all the symptoms, and each disorder can have its own specific signs and symptoms. For example, common signs of Anorexia Nervosa, or restrictive eating behaviors, include dry or yellowing skin, growth of fine hair all over the body, muscle wasting or weakness, brittle hair and nails, constipation, and lower blood pressure and pulse. Typical symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa, when an individual vomits to restrict their calorie intake, include chronically inflamed sore throats, worn tooth enamel, as well as increasingly sensitive and decaying teeth from exposure to stomach acid. They may be extremely dehydrated due to purging and present with electrolyte imbalances, and they may also present with swollen salivary glands. In severe cases, this illness can lead to stroke or heart attack. Other prevalent eating disorders include binge eating, and ARFID or Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

We cannot talk about eating disorders without understanding the impact of media, specifically social media, on your teen’s eating habits. Children and teens are growing up in a world that is flooded with mass media in a way no other generation has experienced. On average, a child or teen can watch anywhere from 5 to 7 hours a day of media combined entertainment each day. The media over time has portrayed the “ideal” female body as thinner and leaner, and the “ideal” male body as stronger and more muscular. Over the past 20 years, several articles have recognized a link between ideal body types portrayed by the media with a range of psychological symptoms such as body dissatisfaction, potentially influencing eating disorders. It is important to understand what your teen is seeing on media channels and understand how to address those potentially unrealistic, and or unhealthy body images.  

We have talked about what an eating disorder is, how to identify one, and the impacts of media, but what can parents and caregivers do if they feel their teen may be struggling with disordered eating? It is very important for them to be supportive, present, and to be an accountability partner for their teens. This is not an easy task, and as a parent, it’s important to know what resources are available in your area.  Parents should be mindful of their language surrounding food, set an example of healthy eating behaviors themselves, and ask their teen what they can do to help . Listen to what your teen shares with you, routinely check in on them, and show them that you care and that you are invested in their progress. Do things together to promote wellness like yoga, meditation, nature walks, listening to music, and other activities that lower stress.

One final piece of advice I would give patients struggling with eating disorders and their parents is to be patient through the process of recovery. Eating disorders are not a choice, we are still learning a lot about them, and there is not a significant amount of information on where they come from or what causes them. Take care of your child through the healing process so that they feel supported and loved. It will take time and patience, and Teen Health Connection is here to support you and your family through the challenges and successes.

 

Chantal Otelsberg, MS, RDN, LDN

 

Sources:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/eating-disorders
Ward ZJ, Rodriguez P, Wright DR, Austin SB, Long MW. Estimation of Eating Disorders Prevalence by Age and Associations With Mortality in a Simulated Nationally Representative US Cohort. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(10):e1912925. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.12925
>@Otelsberg, Chantal Any suggestions on questions or conversation starters parents can use to address what their teens are seeing and how to combat the concept of an “ideal body type?” [KC1]
@Otelsberg, Chantal Do you have any available resources to add here that parents can access if they need more info or help? [KC2]
Kind of vague? Not sure what exactly this means in practice. [KC3]