Prevention and Treatment of Eating Disorders
How do you go about preventing these disordered eating behaviors that can lead a person to a life long struggle with them even after therapy and counseling? Long term abuse of the body, especially in anorexia, can lead to an early death or chronic health problems. There have been news programs on TV that show children, age five, are already aware thinner body size is more acceptable and beginning to limit or avoid foods that they consider fattening. It needs to be a team effort of schools, parents, counselors, medical personnel, children’s favorite TV programs, advertising, and role models.
Just recently in the news, there has been a public agreement made with soft drink companies not to advertise to children below the age of twelve. Families need to teach and demonstrate to children from an early age that people come in all shapes and sizes throughout the human life cycle and it’s what is inside the person that really counts. It has been shown that criticism and disparaging remarks, (like “you would look so pretty if you weren’t fat) especially from fathers or dominant male figures towards young girls, has a long term negative effect on their personal body image. Negative body size attitudes in family background or having a mother with an eating disorder are typically found in young women diagnosed with eating disorders.
Your cultural background also influences a person’s satisfaction with their body size. It has been found that African American college students were most accepting of their body size and least likely to overestimate their body weight. The Latino Americans were in the middle group. Caucasian students were most unhappy with their bodies and often estimate their body weight higher than it was, with women as usual being the most concerned.
The most effective treatment for an eating disorder involves a team approach by medical staff that are understanding and have experience working with eating disorders. Health professionals involved should include a medical doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist, dietitian, and nurse. Out-patient services can work for less medically urgent cases, but for severe and life-threatening stages, often hospitalization and longer term inpatient treatment is required.
Focus is placed on cognitive-behavior therapy which challenges the body image distortion and negative relationship with food and eating. Medical treatment for the complications caused by behaviors such as starvation, habitual vomiting or use of laxatives is also addressed. The team also works on family or personal issues that may have caused the disorder to begin with. The dietitian works on providing a structured plan for meals, snacks, and food choices and learning healthy eating habits. Supplements or tube feeding may be required in persons with extreme weight loss which is often 85% or less of normal weight for age.