Information for parents and friends

  Its essential to keep an eye on their health and consult a doctor; it’s important that they have a full medical check up. It’s very difficult to restrain in confrontational intervention and you can often powerless. Take these feelings however and use it to gain empathy for your child’s emotions, use it to help you support them, give them love and understanding.

Group or family counselling are very successful in aiding recovery, talking with your child in company of a therapist can help you both understand eating behaviours and the best way to combat them....together. It can help to resolve any issues that may be within the family that have contributed to the eating disorder. Parents of children with eating disorders often enter a learning curve also and it’s possible that you learn together, however maintain the attention and focus on your child.

It also may demonstrate to other siblings that having an eating disorder is a way to gain attention and thus unfortunately a form of eating disorder may occur in another sibling.

further steps in preventing an eating disorder;

 

Educate your child that there is more to a person than the physique. Teach your child/children that all foods are fine in moderation, no such thing as good or bad food.Encourage physical activities for fun and join them. (I.e. bike ride, nature walk, etc.)Encourage healthy eating in front of your child/children (not dieting).Do not use food as a reward.Compliment your children on their talents, accomplishments, intelligence, and values.Be a healthy role model, children often take on parents behaviours and values, so emphasise health, not weight or dieting.Do not force your child/children to eat or not eat, or control their choice of food.Make your mealtimes pleasant experiences.Teach your child/children to listen to their own hunger. Educate them on eating when they are hungry and stopping when they are full.Make sure that you have good communication between you and your child.Teach your child/children to love themselves for who they are and as they are, mainly be being an example and doing that yourself.

Keep an eye on your own attitudes towards food, your own weight and your own coping mechanisms. It would be advisable to see a counsellor yourself as it is a stressful time for you also, keeping yourself emotionally in check will ensure that you’re strong for your child.

If there are other children within the family, make sure they are nurtured and do not feel that attention has been taken from them by their ‘troubled’ sibling. This can cause resentment and anxiety only worsening the eating disorder.

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