There’s a startling trend according to recent studies on eating disorders. Researchers are finding evidence of disorders in children younger than we commonly assumed previously. However, this trend might not be evidence of something bad. Not everyone carries their disorder through to adulthood, and sometimes the disorders are short in duration. We may be finding out more about how to treat eating disorders and how to make those treatments stick. We may not yet be sure if it’s good news, and we should be similarly unsure about it being bad. It’s important to keep that in mind when taking in the reporting of the numbers in the press.
Key Points:
- 1Not only did that leave those of us that had EDs long into adulthood with difficulties getting diagnosed and finding help, it also hurt children and pre-teens who had EDs but were ‘too young for that sort of thing.’
- 2Instead of talking about the increase in EDs in children as a universally Bad Thing, maybe it’s not as bad as we think because it means that more kids are getting treatment when they need it.
- 3To me, getting treatment is far better than suffering in silence. Sure, it might distort statistics and make things initially look worse than before.
We are definitely seeing more children with EDs presenting for treatment, but that doesn’t mean that children weren’t suffering from EDs before.
Read the full article at: https://edbites.com/2014/10/eating-disorders-in-young-children-how-bad-is-it/
Reply