Here is an OnPoint that began addressing the issue of eating disorders.
It sounds like eating disorders, like everything else, is starting to creep down the age ladder...
My family has a lot of anorexia in it (both my sister and my mother had this, for example, and my nieces are neurotic about avoiding fat, starting from the age of 8...) so I am trying really hard to understand this issue for my children's sakes. There is a lot of evidence that it is hereditary, and not only cultural.
Because of this family history, I'm concerned about my daughter's recent desire to stop eating meat. She had already stopped eating animal fat, to the point where ham is a no-no. Maybe it's because she loves animals, but I am still a bit nervous about any dietary constriction.
One early warning sign may be sudden vegetarianism, which is why we are steering very hard away from this. If children are in a vegetarian family, that seems very normal that they would be, too, but our family is not, so it's a distressing sign in our daughter's case.
It sounds like eating disorders, like everything else, is starting to creep down the age ladder...
My family has a lot of anorexia in it (both my sister and my mother had this, for example, and my nieces are neurotic about avoiding fat, starting from the age of 8...) so I am trying really hard to understand this issue for my children's sakes. There is a lot of evidence that it is hereditary, and not only cultural.
Because of this family history, I'm concerned about my daughter's recent desire to stop eating meat. She had already stopped eating animal fat, to the point where ham is a no-no. Maybe it's because she loves animals, but I am still a bit nervous about any dietary constriction.
One early warning sign may be sudden vegetarianism, which is why we are steering very hard away from this. If children are in a vegetarian family, that seems very normal that they would be, too, but our family is not, so it's a distressing sign in our daughter's case.
