Eating disorders require prompt parental attention
By: Francesca Calderone-Steichen
Even if they have never experienced it firsthand, what parents fear most is an unexpected phone call about a child in trouble. First comes distress and panic, followed by confusion about what to do. When the phone call is from the college your child is attending, firmly requesting that you come and get your child because she has an eating disorder and can no longer remain in school, and may even have to be hospitalized, the confusion about what to do is compounded. When did that start? How long has that been going on?
The fact is, eating disorders are silent devastators of the lives of young people, especially young women, but also of young men as well. And the incidence is escalating across the industrialized world, reaching downward to ever-younger age groups. Fifty-one percent of 9-10 year-old girls feel better about themselves when they are dieting. Nine percent of 9-year-old girls have vomited to lose weight. Eighty-one percent of 10-year-old girls are afraid of being fat. These are disturbing statistics.
We don’t need to ask why the answers lie all around us. Images of models, rock and film stars are manipulated by computer and have no basis in reality. Our culture has an unhealthy focus on perpetual youth, good looks and body image. And the consumer industry sells hard to young people, starting in early childhood and becoming relentless in the middle and high school years years that are already a challenge for kids to navigate.
The other side of the coin is just as problematic. We are a nation addicted to fast food, junk food and lots of sugar, salt and empty calories. Working parents are increasingly busy with little time or inclination to cook from scratch. This puts our young people in the classic double-bind of being told one thing be thin and healthy at the same time the food industry is piling store shelves with products that may be easy to eat and prepare, but are not good for healthy bodies and sound nutrition. Finally, the increasing focus on what we own and how we look, rather than how we feel about ourselves inside, sends a message to kids that compounds the other problems.
The solution is not to wait. We parents are the key, but we must be given the tools we need, and we must start early. Eating disorders such as obesity, binge eating, anorexia and bulimia are mostly preventable, and certainly easier to tackle now than later.
Parents can find out how by attending a special program called "What’s Eating You? Consumer Culture, Eating Disorders, and Adolescence," which will take place at the Princeton Public Library on Oct. 26 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. The program has been created by a community consortium of eight agencies and organizations, and funded with a special grant from Bristol Myers-Squibb. Interested parents can register by calling the Library Youth Services Desk at (609) 924-9529 ext. 240.
Francesca Calderone-Steichen, MPH, is health educator for the Princeton Regional Health Department.