Anorexia nervosa in children
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder. It is a form of self-starvation. Anorexia Nervosa is often called Anorexia. A child suffering from it has a distorted body image. They believe a certain body type to be the perfect body type and starve themselves to achieve that body form. Children suffering from anorexia often tend to lose body fat through unhealthy means in a short duration of time. They restrict themselves to gaining body fat through different methods.
Two types of anorexia are mentioned below.
Restrictor type: A child starves and restricts themselves from eating, mainly food with higher carbohydrates and fat content.
Bulimic type: Children with bulimic type anorexia often binge eat and then puke everything out or take laxatives and other drugs to clear their guts.
What are the main reasons for anorexia in children?
- Distorted body image
- Development issue
- Critical family
- Social attitudes
- Hormonal imbalances
- Genetics
More commonly, it was observed that girls are more prone to anorexia nervosa. But by recent data, growing cases of anorexic cases in boys were seen. Eating disorders are difficult to recognize in children, as it starts with normal dieting and resistance to carb and fat-rich food items and progresses to excessive and unhealthy weight loss.
Here are some of the symptoms of anorexia in children:
- Strange eating behaviour
- Low body fat, extremely thin body
- Deny feeling hungry, wearing bulky clothes to conceal the fat loss
- Three or more missed consecutive periods in girls
- Fear of being obese
- Socially withdrawn, depressed, and irritable
- Sleep-related problems
- Cavities and yellow teeth due to vomiting
- Thin and brittle head hair
- Cold, mottled, and swollen hands and feet
- Exhausting and vigorous exercise
- Pale skin
- Dizziness and constipation
- Extreme tiredness and lethargy
The primary goal of the treatment in anorexia nervosa includes improving the pattern of eating in children and stabilising and managing their weight to a normal range. The secondary goals of the treatment are to alter problematic beliefs related to food in children and make them comfortable with the treatment and counselling for their condition.
According to the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, some of the evidence-based psychotherapy treatments for children with anorexia nervosa include:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ( CBT ): Targets dysfunctional and questionable beliefs, values, and habits that are responsible for sustaining the disorder.
Interpersonal Therapy: Targets interpersonal difficulties that lead to the onset and maintenance of the eating disorder.
Family-based therapy: Parents take up the responsibility to restore and maintain a healthy weight in their child and help them battle the eating disorder.
Psychotherapy remains the first line of treatment for anorexia in children. Psychotherapy along with drugs and other behavioural therapies is used to treat patients effectively with eating disorders.
A child suffering from anorexia rarely talks about it. Adults need to communicate and understand them so that the child can be open about their problems. Parents need to be empathetic towards their children and encourage them to seek help. Sometimes, to deal with their anxiety children often tend to adopt harmful eating habits. Eating disorders most of the time go hand in hand with different mental disturbances like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. The best child specialist hospital in Agra helps you with the care and treatment of your anorexic child.
Due to Anorexia Nervosa, a child may suffer from different health complications. Anorexia severely affects major body organs like the heart, kidney, and bone. Eating disorders can be very fatal and can even lead to death. Heart attack, depression, and suicide are some of the main reasons for death in anorexic children. Eating disorders can merely be treated by willpower, proper guidance and treatment from professionals is a must.
