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"Until now I have felt like running away, I feel better for talking to Parentline Plus."
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When food is the enemy: eating disorders and your child
 Article by Fiona Duffy
As parents, we’re responsible for feeding and nurturing our children and it’s hard for us to understand why they might ever use food to harm themselves. Food is the focus for family celebrations and eating together is key to a happy family life. But for families where a child suffers from an eating disorder, this is far from the case.
“Food can become the new four letter word when your family is affected by an eating disorder,” says Mary George of beat (the Eating Disorders Association). To your child, food is the enemy."
Contrary to popular belief, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia have nothing to do with wanting to be thinner or a size zero, says beat.
"An eating disorder is a serious mental illness - not a fad or a diet gone wrong," says the charity's Mary George. "With all eating disorders, food is used in some way to control or block out difficult thoughts and feelings."
There is rarely one specific cause or trigger. Each case is unique and may be the result of a combination of bullying and teasing, abuse, pressure to succeed academically, poor body image, difficulties with relationships and friendships.
Research suggests that more than one million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder. But only a small percentage will have been diagnosed to receive appropriate treatment.
On average, eating disorders are most likely to affect girls aged between 14 and 25 (however, there are cases of girls as young as eight developing anorexia). A tenth of sufferers are estimated to be male.
With the expert help of beat, we'll give you the details you need on the different types of eating disorders, the signs and symptoms to look out for. And we’ve a step by step guide to seeking - and getting - the help you need to set your child on the road to recovery.
Types of eating disorders
Anorexia
This word literally means 'loss of appetite for nervous reasons'. But experts agree that the condition has more to do with denying hunger than losing appetite.
Sufferers usually restrict what they eat or drink - either by skipping meals and/or drastically reducing food types and portions.
As the disorder progresses they become seriously underweight and likely to suffer from malnutrition. Subsequent chemical changes that occur in the body affect the brain and distort thinking, making it almost impossible to think rationally about food.
Studies show that anorexia has a higher death rate than any other mental health illness - either through suicide or the effects of prolonged starvation (in particular, heart failure). However, experts stress that once treatment has started the risk of premature death reduces significantly.
Signs
Severe weight loss; circulatory problems and feeling cold, tiredness but difficulty sleeping; dizziness; stomach pains; constipation; growth of soft, downy body hair; periods stopping or not starting; poor skin; hair loss.
Behaviour:
Excessive exercising, ritual or obsessive behaviours about food; lying about eating ('I've already had lunch'), cooking or preparing food for everyone else - but not consuming any themselves; wearing baggy clothes; mood swings; perfectionist standards; conviction that they are fat (when, in fact, they are severely underweight); irritable and moody; shutting themselves off from the world; difficulty concentrating.
 The sufferer may cut food into tiny pieces then push them around the plate. They may hide food in pockets, drop under the table for pets, or slide it onto siblings' plates. "There is usually an intense interest in what others are eating but an absolute denial that there is a problem," says Mary. "The longer the eating disorder persists, the smarter the sufferer gets at pretending to eat. If eating is unavoidable, compensatory action such as purging or exercising will be taken as soon as possible to prevent weight gain."
Bulimia
Bulimia is more common- but more hidden - as sufferers tend to show little weight change. Sufferers become involved in a cycle of eating large amounts of food (known as bingeing) then 'purging' themselves either by making themselves sick or taking laxatives or diuretics. After an episode, which usually takes place in secret, they may limit food intake, triggering extreme hunger then more bingeing - and so the cycle continues.
Both Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder (see below) have a significantly lower death risk than anorexia. "However, sufferers still need help and support as both the side effects and consequences can be very serious," explains Mary George.
Prolonged purging can lead to dehydration, while internal organs may become damaged by dangerously low levels of essential minerals. Bulimia can also cause malnourishment, damage to the oesophagus, rupture of the stomach, choking, erosion of tooth enamel and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (a condition which affects fertility).
Signs:
Sore throat, bad breath, tooth decay and mouth infections; stomach pains; irregular periods; dry or poor skin; difficulty sleeping; constipation; puffy cheeks or face due to swollen salivary glands; dehydration, fainting; kidney and bowel problems.
Behaviour:
Secret bingeing; buying and hiding large quantities of food; disappearing to the toilet straight after meals; frequent vomiting or use of laxatives; periods of fasting; excessive exercising.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
This has only recently been recognised as an eating disorder.
BED sufferers eat large amounts of food in a short period of time (again, to cope with difficult feelings and emotions) - but, unlike bulimics, they don't try to get rid of the food afterwards. If the disorder continues they will inevitably gain weight and may become obese (which carries further health problems like high blood pressure and heart disease). Feelings of shame, depression and guilt usually follow episodes.
Signs:
Gaining weight; eating much more rapidly than usual; eating until uncomfortably full or eating large amounts of food when not hungry; stomach pains, irregular periods, poor or spotty skin; difficulty sleeping, constipation, secrecy and lying about food; feelings of depression
Behaviour
mood swings; obsession with weight; avoidance of social events; eating very little in front of others.
Compulsive overeating
The effects, such as weight gain, are similar to BED but overeating is constant rather than in binges.
Signs:
Eating far more than the body needs at mealtimes; eating when not hungry
Atypical eating disorder or 'eating disorder not otherwise specified' (EDNOS)
This can involve having some, but not all, of the symptoms of anorexia, bulimia or BED. Or symptoms may overlap between two or more different disorders. These are the most common types of eating disorders and are taken seriously by health professionals (with the patient treated for the disorder that most resembles the one they are suffering from).
Chew and spit
This describes a disorder when the sufferer spits out food rather than swallowing, or eats items like paper tissues to fill up without consuming calories. These behaviours are more common than many people believe and sometimes exist alongside other symptoms, say beat experts.
Read more
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