Nutrition Tips For Kids: What is Disordered Eating in Children And How to Overcome it?

Disordered eating has long-term effects such disorders of the heart, digestive system, and bones in youngsters in addition to malnutrition, retardation of average growth, and abnormally low body weight.

Nutrition Tips For Kids: Disordered eating is the term for abnormal eating behaviours that are less severe than those of an eating disorder and do not require a professional diagnosis. One of the most typical signs of disordered eating is the experience of negative feelings like guilt or shame around eating habits, restrictions on the consumption of particular foods, or a sense of being out of control.

The issue is significantly more severe in children since they cannot speak well, making it more challenging to diagnose and treat the illness. We are concerned for their welfare as parents and will do everything it takes to improve their situation. To determine when you need to seek medical attention, it is crucial to fully comprehend the issue. India.com got in touch with Dr Shivhar Sonawane, Consultant-Pediatric, Jupiter Hospital, Pune to discuss the symptoms of disordered eating in children and possible treatments.

WHAT IS DISORDERED EATING?

Disordered eating is an irregular, inflexible, restrictive or compulsive eating pattern with dieting as one of the most common forms. Fasting and binge eating are some of the other common behaviours that may be present in individuals engaging in disordered eating. Some of how parents can identify those with disordered eating behaviour include:

• Not eating food on time
• Excess loss or weight gain
• Concerned about external appearance
• Slowing down growth and development
• Looking for reasons to skip food
• Expressing displeasure or severe anxiety when offered food
• Losing hair
• Excessive exercising or hyperactivity
• Irregular menstruation
• Finding and hoarding food
• Skipping social occasions like feasts

HOW TO HELP CHILDREN OVERCOME DISORDERED EATING?

Disordered eating can have severe consequences in children such as stunting of average growth, extremely low body weight, malnutrition and long-term effects like diseases of the bones, digestive system and heart. Parents and healthcare providers can make use of some of the following ways to help children with disordered eating:

1. Taking Care of Underlying Mental Health Disorders: This includes providing a supportive environment to ensure adequate nutritional intake and appropriate management of the child’s overall development and behaviour.
2. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or Psychological Treatment: It is aimed at bringing out changes in abnormal thought patterns and images related to food and eating. The patient is regularly monitored to assess the rate of change in their thought process and actions.
3. Consulting Nutrition Specialists: Nutritional advice must be taken to achieve a healthy and balanced diet. Lack of adequate nutrition leads to multiple problems like abnormal menstruation, developmental issues, low bone density and changes in the structure and function of the brain.
4. Family-Based Treatment (FBT) & Medication: FBT is one of the essential treatments for children with disordered eating. In this, the main aim is to control the disorder with the help of support from the complete family. Parents are taught how to handle such children and manage their weight. There are no specific medications for this disorder, however, certain drugs can be given based on a doctor’s prescription.

Parents play a significant role in identifying children with such disorders. When a child refuses to take certain foods regularly, parents should get in touch with a healthcare professional to look for any psychological issues.