Eating disorders may indicate psychological issues in children

By: Shraddha Rupavate | | Published: October 9, 2014 11:05 am

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According to a study by researchers at the University of Montreal and its affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital, children who are difficult eaters could have an underlying psychological issue like being bullied at the school or body image issue.

Although it’s believed that anorexia bulimia, one the eating disorders, appears mainly in adolescent children, this study indicates that the problem could arise much earlier in life. Lack of awareness and delayed diagnosis could be one of the reasons why the problem is noticed when children enter adolescence, according to clinical psychologist and Professor Dominique Meilleur, lead author of the study.

For the study, Meilleur and colleagues analysed psychological, socio-demographic and physiological characteristics of 215 eight to twelve year old children having eating problems. The study excluded kids having health issues like diabetes or cystic fibrosis. The researchers found that the children often suffered from other problems: in particular, anxiety and mood disorders and attention deficiency. “More than 15.5 per cent of the children in the study made themselves vomit occasionally and 13.3 per cent presented bulimic behaviours,” Meilleur said.

“These results are very concerning but they may help clinicians reach a diagnosis earlier by enabling them to investigate these aspects,” Meilleur said. Across the study, 52 per cent of the children had been hospitalised at least once due to their eating problem and 48 per cent had been treated as outpatients emergency responders.

“The fact that most children had been hospitalised upon contact with medical services suggests that the children’s physical health was precarious. It is also worth noting that psychiatric issues were present in the families of 36.3 per cent of the study participants,” Meilleur explained. The results of this study indicate that 22.7 per cent of the children identify having been mocked or insulted for his or her appearance as a trigger event to the modification of their behaviours.

“For some children, bullying can initiate or reinforce body image preoccupations and possibly lead to a change in eating behaviour,” Meilleur said. Around 95 per cent of the children in the study had restrictive eating behaviours, 69.4 per cent were afraid of putting on weight, and 46.6 per cent described themselves as “fat.”

“These behaviours reflect the clinical presentations we observe in adolescents and support findings that body image is a preoccupation for some children as early as elementary school,” Meilleur explained.

What is bulimia nervosa?

Bulimia nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterised by a cycle of recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by extreme weight-control behaviours. Here are some symptoms of the disease.

Binge eating, i.e. eating large amounts of food in a short period of time than what normal person would eat
Lack of control over how much food one eats at each meal
Regular use of inappropriate compensatory behaviour such as self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, enemas or other medications
Extreme use of weight control methods such as strict dieting, fasting for prolonged periods or excessive exercise
Extreme concern with body weight and shape

With inputs from PTI

Image source: Getty images

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Published : October 9, 2014 11:05 am

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