What to know about disordered eating in kids and teens
More than a fifth of young people experience disordered eating. So how does it differ from an eating disorder and what can parents do to help?
A shocking number of children and adolescents worldwide show signs of disordered eating, according to new research.
The meta-analysis of 32 studies found 22 per cent of children aged seven to 18 from 16 countries exhibited disordered eating, with girls more likely to exhibit symptoms than boys.
The signs of disordered eating can evolve into a full-blown eating disorder, which is among the most deadly of all mental illnesses.
“We’ve got a serious problem on our hands now and in the future,” Monash University Body Image and Eating Disorders research group leader Associate Professor Gemma Sharp says.
What exactly is disordered eating?
Disordered eating describes disturbed and unhealthy eating patterns, driven by poor body image.
“Disordered eating behaviours (are behaviours) like dieting, binge eating, self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise and laxative abuse that don’t quite meet the threshold for a disorder, but are certainly concerning behaviours,” senior clinical psychologist Dr Sharp says.
“Disordered eating can easily turn into an eating disorder but, even if it doesn’t, it usually means that the young person involved isn’t getting enough nutrition, and may be harming their bodies in other ways physically as well as mentally.”
Listen to Dr Gemma Sharp’s full interview on The House of Wellness radio show:
What’s driving the rise in disordered eating?
Rates of disordered eating and eating disorders increased during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People being shut in, huge changes to their routines and eating, caused a lot of escalation in eating disorder symptoms,” Dr Sharp says.
Pressures brought by social media and unrealistic ideals of beauty and “thinspiration” are also impacting how young people see their bodies.
“We need to help young people use social media in healthy ways, such as following body-positive influencers who focus on body appreciation rather than those who emphasise beauty and aesthetics,” she says.
While exercise is great for physical and mental health, research has found too much of it – “activity that’s intense and has a compulsive quality” – is associated with greater levels of eating disorder severity.
That compulsive exercise is driven by several factors, the most obvious being control of weight and shape.
How AI is helping fight disordered eating
In 2020, Dr Sharp and her team led the development of the world’s first positive body image chatbot, which provided 24/7 support to those in need.
The chatbot, which multiple iterations later is called Jem, will be launched internationally later in 2023.
“It’s a very exciting time in conversational artificial intelligence and we are harnessing this technology to give people evidence-based body image support whenever they need it,” she says.
This story addresses eating disorders. If this raises any concerns for you or a loved one, please contact the Butterfly National Helpline on 1800 334 673.
More on positive body image:
- How AFLW star Richelle Cranston is tackling body image
- How makeup-free celebs are inspiring better body image
Written by Liz McGrath.
