Diet talk can give your kid an eating disorder

Your diet lecturing may be giving your kid an eating disorder.

Talking to children and teens about obesity and dieting can backfire and push them to develop eating disorders, warns the American Academy of Pediatrics.


“Some adolescents may misinterpret what ‘healthy eating’ is and engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as skipping meals or using fad diets,” states the new report in the journal Pediatrics. “Parents should avoid comments about body weight and discourage dieting efforts that may inadvertently result in [eating disorders] and body dissatisfaction.”

Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are the third most common chronic condition in teens after obesity and asthma, and tend to develop during adolescence. But the new clinical report notes that these disorders are on the rise in kids as young as 5 to 12 who are afraid of being fat, with hospitalizations for the problem spiking 119% between 1999 and 2006 in children under 12. Some 40% to 60% of elementary school girls ages 6 to 12 are already concerned about their weight, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

Obesity and eating disorders seem like total opposites, but are actually closely related. The AAP identifies behaviors associated with both as: dieting, or cutting calories in order to lose weight; discussing their weight, or telling their children to lose weight; and kids being teased about their weight. These negative influences create unhealthy relationships with food, which make kids eat too much, eat too little, or binge and purge.

So how do you strike the right balance between battling obesity and risking eating disorders? The whole family should embrace good habits. That means sitting down to wholesome family dinners; stocking the kitchen with healthy fruits and veggies, whole grains and water in lieu of fatty chips, cookies and sweetened drinks; and pushing for a positive body image instead of reading into what’s on the scale.

“The focus should be on healthy living and healthy habits rather than on weight,” states the report.