Having kids is a blessing. But, while it has numerous perks, having them also comes with a great deal of responsibility. Of course, all of us are surrounded by our parents, the elderly, and other kids, so during life, we learn a thing or two about how to raise them the right way. It is well known that most issues with children arise during their teen years. This is normal. Puberty kicks in, and sometimes the behavior of our loved ones becomes unpredictable. All of us had this phase. One of the things that teens often encounter due to the stress of life during this period is an eating disorder.
Now, don’t be afraid, this is not uncommon. It happens to many teens, and it is treatable. The one thing that you need to be able to do is to recognize the signs and react. This is the hard part. But, with our guidelines, you should be able to train yourself to look for signs of an eating disorder. Remember, if your kid has this issue, is not the end of the world. But, you need to notice it, react, and overcome it together with them.
If you’re now worried about this outcome, you can stop right now. In this article, we are going to give you the seven warning signs your teen may have an eating disorder. Os instead of worrying, you can start reading what we have to say, and the issue will be half resolved before it even happened. If you notice that your teen has any of the signs below you can react immediately, and one of the best approaches would be to seek professional help. If this is your course of action, clementineprograms.com can certainly be of help, and so can we, so please finish reading this article.
1. Insecurities About Their Body
This is a clear sign. Many teenagers have various insecurities. But, when it comes to the body it might lead to an eating disorder. You’ll notice that this is the case if they’re constantly obsessing about the size of their body parts, and shape alike. In most cases, their statements are going to be negative. These worries and complaints need to be noticed by parents. They won’t be able to hide their thoughts on this subject. It will always be a tale about being fat or the need to work on losing weight. While we put this upfront as our first sign, you should know that it is not necessary to have insecurities about your body to have an eating disorder.
2. Avoiding Meals
When you have an eating disorder food is the main enemy. Teens are at the age when they burn a lot of calories and they need to eat properly. Every meal matters from breakfast to dinner. If you see that your teen is avoiding eating, it should ring a bell. They’ll find all sorts of excuses why they’re not in the mood to eat but the reason will be only one. You should also remember that teens are clever, so they’ll often lie that they had a meal while getting home from a friend, that they ate at their place, or that they visited a local pizza place.
3. Avoiding Eating in Company
When I was a teen, most of my meals were eaten in the presence of family members or friends from school. It was very rare that I would eat alone. This is the case with the majority of teens. So, noticing that yours is avoiding eating in front of others is a clear sign that an eating disorder is knocking on the door. When a teen is not eating in public, with friends, and not even in the house when others are present, it is a red flag and you need to react.
4. Too Much Exercising
As we said, teens are in the period when they burn a lot of calories, and when their bodies are going through a transformation. It is the period of life when they should et engaged with a sport or try to have a workout for the first time. But it makes no sense to be excessive when exercising. During growing up there’s a time when other things are more important. For a teen to be obsessed with exercising is not quite often. So, if yours is obsessing about working out constantly and focusing on altering your body appearance too much the issue is clear.
5. Picking What to Eat
Eating everything is not a thing for teens. You eat what you’re served when you’re older and truly tired and hungry. But, being picky is also not an option in many families. Most teens would be able to eat pizza every day, that much is clear, but pancakes are good too. Most teens will look to eat sweets and meat, and strike back on vegetables at times. So, if your teen is being picky, avoiding eating what’s on the table, or is focused solely on one food group, an eating disorder is present.
6. Changes in Appearance
We already stated that teens grow and are going through a transformation, but that’s normal. Changes in body appearance can have various looks. The growth spur usually takes you in one direction. But if you see that your kid is gaining weight and then losing it all of a sudden, something is happening. You might also notice changes in their hair, body hair, and even skin.
7. Eating Too Much
You ought to see this one. Many teens who have eating disorders show it by eating too much. They’ll eat frequent and large quantities of food. While we all get hungry to the point we’ll eat too much, it is not the same. Teens will eat until they feel nauseous in this situation. They’ll also eat when they’re not even feeling hungry. Later they may be throwing it all up, which leads to the appearance of another condition called bulimia which is also listed as an eating disorder.
Bottom Line
As you can see many signs will reveal a teen who suffers from an eating disorder. Pay attention to all of them, and you’ll be able to react in time. In this situation, recognizing signs early is the best way to counter this condition.
