Food For Thought - How To Spot If Your Child Has A Problem

Food for thought: how to spot if your child has a problem
* Body dissatisfaction, particularly in girls who mature early ("I can't stand my hips. No one else has them!")
* Skipping meals ("I had a big snack at school")
* Weight loss to the very bottom of normal for her build and height. Slowly the weight drops into slightly below normal without worry or fear of health consequences ("I'm fine. I feel great!")
* Excessive exercising
* Preferring to eat in private
* A tendency towards perfectionism in everything she does ("I can't believe the teacher gave me an A-")
* Developing odd eating habits, such as cutting things into tiny pieces
* Eating only low-fat food, or suddenly deciding on vegetarianism
* Vomiting after a big meal ("Something must have been off" she might say if caught)
* Sudden bingeing ("See! I'm eating!").
* Episodes of overeating or undereating - bingeing and starving
* Studying food labels
* May feel uncomfortable both emotionally and physically after eating, due to anxiety over the calorific intake, as if one meal could catapult her into a size 18
* Begins to consider various diet plans and rigidly applies herself to them