Eating Disorders In Teenagers And Ways To Prevent Them

Eating disorders, which revolve around food consumption and body weight are the most common physiological and emotional problems found among teens these days. Eating disorders, which either make a person consume excessive food or compel him/her for insufficient food intake, can prove to be life-threatening under certain circumstances.

Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder and bulimia and all of them have an extremely severe impact on a person’s health. All most all the eating disorders are characterized by strong attitudes, acute emotions and extreme behaviors associated with food consumption and weight.

In short, eating disorders are tremendously grave mental and emotional problems and they can have potentially fatal consequences for your health. Eating disorders are common both among boys and girls.

Here’re Some Common Eating Disorders

1. Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa (anorexia) is a highly common eating disorder wherein a teen suffering from it feels extremely uncomfortable about his/her weight and always have a strong desire of become thin. One of the most important facts about this eating disorder is that a person suffering from it starts consuming inadequate food with the fear of gaining weight.

Anorexia nervosa patients always feel that they are the victim of overweight despite the fact that they are underweight, and hence they try to reduce it. Their mental condition forces them to avoid food intake. They lose the ability to judge their fitness and that’s why they keep on neglecting food in order to become thin. In addition to that, they become too obsessed with exercise and keep on doing it excessively.

2. Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is a kind of eating disorder which is characterized by the excessive eating of food without any fear of gaining weight. That means binge eating disorder is quite the opposite of anorexia nervosa, wherein a person fears weight gain and stops consuming sufficient amount of food.

That means binge eating disorder supports binge eating - which is nothing but the intake of excessive food within a very short time. In binge eating disorder a person loses the ability to control food consumption and because of that he/she keeps eating on and on. However, the person in question has a strong feeling of guilt when it comes to binge eating. This is a very weird problem, wherein a person eats even without being hungry and eats to an extent of discomfort.

3. Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa is a kind of eating disorder wherein a person eats a large amount of food frequently, however he/she then tries to prevent weight gain by going ahead with self-induced vomiting. That means it’s a kind of medical condition wherein a person loses the ability to control excessive eating but still fears weight gain and hence indulge into behavior like self-induced vomiting.

Ways Of Preventing Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are tremendously complicated mental and psychological conditions that take place because of a wide range of factors such as:

• Behavioral
• Emotional
• Interpersonal
• Psychological
• Social.

Though it is completely true that eating disorders are largely associated with weight and food, but a number of other factors also contribute when it comes to triggering an eating disorder in a person.

Considering the fact that eating disorders are emotional and psychological problems, people find excessive eating, dieting, and purging as a solution to deal with their problems and emotions. If your child’s problem is really serious then you must look forward to the treatment of eating disorders, otherwise his/her condition may ruin further.

Tips For Preventing Eating Disorders

1. Parents Must Discourage Their Children From Dieting

One of the best ways to prevent your child from getting affected by eating disorder’s like anorexia nervosa is to discourage them from going ahead with dieting. If in case, your child is concerned about his/her weight, you should never allow him/her to pick dieting as an option to deal with the problem. You should rather try to find out other options to cope up with the problem.

2. Doctors Should Never Appreciate Dieting

Apart from parents, doctors should also be very strict about allowing people to go ahead with dieting when it comes to losing weight.

3. Parents Should Keep A Track Of Their Kids Food Habits

It’s very important for parents to keep a track of what their children are eating, otherwise, there are changes of children going out of track when it comes to following a fitness routine. As parents, you must check whether your children are eating their food on time or not and what exactly are they having. If at all they are following an unhealthy eating routine, it’s your responsibility to bring them back on the track by convincing them to eat sufficient food.

4. Parents Should Encourage Their Children To Follow A Balanced Diet

One of the best ways to allow your children to stay fit and healthy is by encouraging them to follow a balanced diet. In other words, don’t allow them to be selective when it comes to eating food. Let them know that each and every food has its own importance when it comes to supplying required nutrients to their bodies.

Author's bio
Ruby Daub is a great writer who has been sharing her knowledge about eating disorders through her blogs and articles for the last couple of years. She loves to create awareness among people about these mental problems through her work.