| Anorexia: How to help your child at home | 266.000000000000 | Anorexia: How to help your child at home | Anorexia: How to help your child at home | A | English | Psychiatry | Pre-teen (9-12 years);Teen (13-18 years) | Body | NA | Conditions and diseases | Caregivers
Adult (19+) | NA | | 2016-02-02T05:00:00Z | | Seena Grewal, MD, MSc, FRCP(C) | | | | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Health (A-Z) - Conditions | Health A-Z | <p>Learn how you can support your child or teen as they recover from anorexia.</p> |
<p>Anorexia is a challenge for the whole family, not just the person who is experiencing it. However, there are some steps you can take to help your child recover and help your family's routine return to normal.</p> | | <h2>Key points</h2>
<ul>
<li>Anorexia affects the whole family and requires a range of steps at home to help your child recover and resume your family's normal routine.</li>
<li>Try to be a healthy role model in how you talk about your own appearance and your non-physical qualities.</li>
<li>Emphasize overall nutrition rather than fat or calories and limit your child's access to materials that focus on dieting or exercise.</li>
<li>Have someone sit with your child at every meal to supervise their eating. This is a vital part of recovery.</li>
<li>Be persistent and consistent in encouraging your child to eat a range of foods and avoid exercise as compensation.</li>
</ul> | | | | | | | | <h2>Be a healthy role model</h2>
<p>As a parent or caregiver, you are a role model for your children. It is important to promote not only a healthy body image in children but also to show that you have a healthy body image. Avoid saying negative things about your physical appearance and weight. Instead, focus on what your body can do and on your positive attributes that have nothing to do with appearance. Minimize talk about good or bad foods and focus instead on the overall benefits of different food for health.</p>
<h2>Create a regular pattern of family mealtimes</h2>
<p>Make eating meals together as a family a priority, starting when your child is young. Emphasizing health and nutrition, rather than fat content and calories, helps children develop a healthy relationship with food. Eating as a family also promotes strong family bonds and better communication.</p>
<p>For children and teens diagnosed with anorexia, meal supervision is a key part of recovery. During the first phase of their treatment at home, it is important for someone to sit with them for every meal and snack.</p>
<h2>Be persistent and consistent</h2>
<p>Because of the anxiety associated with anorexia, children and teens may hesitate to eat their feared foods or avoid compensatory activities such as exercising or using laxatives. However, the only way for a child or teen to get over these fears is to keep eating different types of food and not use exercise to justify eating.</p>
<h2>Keep anorexia triggers to a minimum</h2>
<p>Some environments can make it harder for a person to recover from their eating disorder. You can help your child proceed towards recovery by reducing their exposure to situations or materials that might trigger their eating disorder, such as diet books and websites or exercise materials.</p> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | <h2>Further information</h2><p>For more information on anorexia, please see the following pages:</p><p>
<a href="/Article?contentid=268&language=English">Anorexia: Overview</a></p><p>
<a href="/Article?contentid=269&language=English">Anorexia: Signs and symptoms</a></p><p>
<a href="/Article?contentid=267&language=English">Anorexia: Medical complications</a></p><p>
<a href="/Article?contentid=700&language=English">Anorexia: Treatment options</a></p><h2>Resources</h2><p>
<a href="http://www.nedic.ca/" target="_blank">NEDIC – National Eating Disorder Information Centre</a> (Canada)</p><p>
<a href="http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/" target="_blank">NEDA – National Eating Disorder Association</a> (United States)</p><p>American Academy of Pediatrics –
<em>
<a href="https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/emotional-problems/Pages/Eating-Disorders-in-Children.aspx" target="_blank">Eating Disorders in Children</a></em></p><p>
<a href="http://www.b-eat.co.uk/" target="_blank">B-EAT – Beating Eating Disorders</a> (United Kingdom)</p><p>
<a href="http://www.keltyeatingdisorders.ca/" target="_blank">Kelty Eating Disorders</a> (Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre, BC Children's Hospital)</p><p>Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario –
<a href="http://www.cheo.on.ca/en/eating_disorder_info" target="_blank">
<em>Eating Disorders</em></a></p> | | <img alt="" src="https://assets.aboutkidshealth.ca/AKHAssets/anorexia_how_you_can_help.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | https://assets.aboutkidshealth.ca/AKHAssets/anorexia_how_you_can_help.jpg | | | | | | | Anorexia: How to help your child at home | | | | |
