Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder — we might have come across these terms from time to time.
Are they somewhat similar? Well, they do fall under an umbrella term known as Eating Disorders.
But what exactly do they differ?

What are eating disorders?

Food refusal in children is a very normal occurrence that most if not all parents can empathise with. Many parents share similar plights about how their children refuse to eat vegetables, or only eat a certain food and would throw tantrums when their requests are not met. As a parent, there is no need to be alarmed by food refusal as these are normal phases that children do go through. However, it certainly becomes cause for concern when these food-related behaviours continue to persist even after a few months, as this could potentially be an indicator of an eating-related disorder.

Eating disorders are concerning as they have the highest mortality rates among all psychiatric disorders. Particularly among children with Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa, mortality risk was found to be an increase of 6 times. This is often due to the complications and symptoms that accompany these disorders, such as severe malnutrition and body image disturbances. Furthermore, eating disorders in children can also affect developmental processes in children, hence it is important for early identification of related behaviours and subsequent intervention.

What does disordered eating in children look like? Typically, children might have difficulty hiding some of the behaviours that might be indicative of an eating disorder. Here are some tell-tale signs to look out for:

Ψ Severe tantrums during meal times

Ψ Avoidance of meal times

Ψ Excusing themselves immediately after meals

Ψ Avoidance of certain foods

Ψ Obsession over body image

Ψ Purging behaviours

Ψ Compulsive/excessive exercise

Ψ Sudden weight loss/gain

Although the peak age of incidence of eating disorders are typically around the ages of adolescence to early adulthood, children are not immune to them either. They do experience eating disorders, namely:

Ψ Anorexia Nervosa (AN)

Ψ Bulimia Nervosa (BN)

Ψ Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

Ψ Pica

Ψ Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

Ψ Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS)