Illnesses with a biological origin inclined and altered by emotional and cultural factors are called as eating disorders. The professionals and the public do not recognize the eating disorder changes due to insufficient information about eating disorders. Eating disorders are serious. They are potentially life threatening and there is help available. Recovery from eating disorders is possible. If you are the parent of a child with an eating disorder you probably already monitor meals, friends and activities. Two new studies from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital tell us there is now a need for monitoring your child’s internet use, and pre-teen weight loss in seemingly healthy children. Watch out for bad advice from pro-eating disorder websites. One study indicates that pro-eating disorder websites may promote dangerous behaviors in adolescents with eating disorders. The second study indicates that pre-teens with eating disorders tend to lose weight more quickly than adolescents with the condition and weigh comparatively less at diagnosis.Researchers found that about half of the patients surveyed said they had visited websites about eating disorders. A huge percentage of these teens reported they had learned new dieting and purging techniques. Researchers are also finding that pro-eating disorder site visitors tend to have a longer duration of disease, spent less time on schoolwork and spent more time online each week than did those who never visited the sites. Researchers also warn that even those sites who claim dedication to helping people recover from eating disorders (pro-recovery sites) are not harmless. Nearly half of the patients who visited such sites reported learning new methods to lose weight or to purge.
Treatment of Eating Disorders
The most effective and long-lasting treatment for an eating disorder is some form of psychotherapy or psychological counseling, while medical and nutritional needs are met. The care of a person with an eating disorder should be coordinated and provided by a health professional with expertise and experience in dealing with eating disorders. Many times this type of care can be obtained as outpatient therapy that involves individual, group, and/or family therapy. Medical management is best provided by a primary care provider. Nutritional counseling and psychiatric medications under careful medical supervision have also been helpful for some individuals. Inpatient hospital care including residential care in an eating disorders specialty unit or facility is necessary when an eating disorder has led to physical problems that may be life-threatening, or when the eating disorder is associated with severe psychological or behavioral problems. The exact treatment needs for each individual varies. Try to find a experienced health care professional to assist you in coordinating the recovery process as this is the very first step in treatment and recovery of eating disorders.