Africa-Press – Ethiopia. ‘food brings people together, the one that is not fed does not return’. That goes to say that food is a unifying factor and if one is not fed when in your home, it creates bad feeling.
Taking this to children, it is known that these usually have a high affinity for food at least until teenage hood. It was among adolescents that food disorders were common because they had become aware of their body hence taking some drastic measures to control their body weight.
Eating disorder types
However, in the recent past, a negative trend has cropped up where children below 12 years are having eating disorders. Innocent Kwame, a nutritionist says some of the disorders they face include:
Bulimia nervosa: It is where one excessively indulges in food and then purges it. That said, there is no limit on what and how much the person eats.
Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder: It is very common among children and the person limits the amount of food they eat or the type. “However, it is not because they are conscious of their weight. For instance, one with inflammatory bowel disease may link eating to pain thus avoid it. Another case is children with sensory issues as these usually find taste, smell or texture of some foods very unpleasant thus refuse to eat them. This is adverse picky eating and could lead to malnutrition,” he shares.
Anorexia nervosa: it is characterised by an intense fear of weight gain. Kwame says people with this disorder always see themselves as obese even when they healthy or underweight.
The restrictive anorexia nervosa is where someone goes to great lengths to limit what they eat and the quantities in order to control the weight.
In binge purge anorexia nervosa, one will limit the quantity eaten and the type of food and then purges. “For instance, if they eat a large meal, they will purge the excess calories by the help of diuretics, laxatives, vomiting, or excessive exercising,” he says.
Binge eating disorder: It is an eating disorder where one debauches but does not restrict or purge. Kwame says this is actually very common among teens and young adults.
Pica: According to psycom.net, this is where a child might continually eat non-food or non-nutritional substances. To be diagnosed with pica, the behaviour must fall outside of the child’s expected developmental level. Therefore, an infant who chews on objects would not qualify. However, substances such as dirt, soap, chalk, sand, ice, and hair subscribe to the list.
Symptoms
According to psycom.net, early signs include fear of stomach aches, aversion to tastes or textures, tantrums, excessive bowel movements, worry about body image.
While the child may not necessarily be conscious of their body weight or image, it is these that a parent or guardian needs to look out for to help their child get treatment before it becomes a full blown disorder.
Other causative factors
On a whole, eating disorders are a poor way of creating control in one’s life. Marion Namulindwa, a nutritionist says these include:
Reduced or no supervision of children as was in school as parents had other duties such as work to attend to during the lockdown.
Change in life as they could not interact with friends who in one way or another help with managing their stress.
Increased screen time and social media that broadcasts wrong information regarding health, weight and body size.
Treatment
Food and eating are crucial to human survival which makes eating disorders very worrying as well as a touchy issue to deal with. More to that, Kwame says there is no particular medication to treat it. Therefore, it is best for the adult to handle it carefully with the child.
“To start with, tactfully inform the child that you are worried about their health. It does not help them when you, their guardian or parent, are afraid to face the issue at hand,” he advises.
Thereafter, Kwame says, a parent/guardian ought to reach out to a paediatrician as well as a therapist for help because eating disorders are best tackled by both behavioural and medical help.
In a full blown eating disorder, the symptoms include:
● Changes in what, how much and when they eat
● Become restrictive, mindful of what they eat
● Thinning of hair
● Delay of puberty
● Hiding or hoarding food
● Unusual weight fluctuations. That said, one can have normal weight yet have eating disorders.
● Unusual or excessive exercising
● Unhappiness with their weight and/or body size
● Spending longer time than usual in the bathroom/toilet
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