Any eating disorder has the potential to cause serious health damage and even death, but decades of research finds anorexia has the highest death rate of any mental disorder “due to the effects of weight loss and starvation on the body and brain.”
Tragically, anorexia is also one of the most common eating disorders seen in adolescents. The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) warns that “over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, and taking laxatives,” which are symptoms of anorexia and certain other eating disorders.
About 30 million people in the United States will suffer from an eating disorder in their lifetime. Eating disorders affect people of all ages, genders, sexual orientation, ethnic backgrounds, religions, body shapes, and weights. Even young children can develop a distorted body image which can lead to an eating disorder.
What Causes Eating Disorders?
Experts believe eating disorders stem from a combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. People with a history of trauma, low self-esteem, difficulty managing stress, or have a close relative with an eating disorder are more prone to developing an eating disorder themselves. Young people who take part in a sport that values leanness, such as wrestling or swimming, are also at a greater risk.
COVID-19 has caused many adolescents to experience fear, isolation, boredom, stress, loss of a support system, financial issues, food insecurity, and, sometimes, violence in the home. All are risk factors for eating disorders, substance abuse, and other mental illnesses.
Signs Your Adolescent May Have an Eating Disorder
If your adolescent is displaying physical symptoms like fatigue, constipation, nausea after eating, loss of menstruation in females, or any of the signs below, they may have an eating disorder. Seek treatment immediately to decrease the chance for severe physical harm and to increase their likelihood for recovery.
Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorder
- Extreme weight loss
- Focusing excessive attention on weight, food, calories, dieting, or body image
- Refusing to eat with the family or eating in secret
- Pushing food around on the plate instead of eating it, ritualized eating, or other abnormal eating habits
- Frequent trips to the bathroom after meals, self-induced vomiting, and laxative abuse
- Disappearance of large amounts of food or eating abnormally large amounts of food at one sitting may signal binge eating
- Suddenly deciding to go on a strict diet, cut out certain food groups or restrict the times they will eat
- Exercising compulsively, even when sick or injured
- Self-isolating or withdrawing from family and friends
- More anxious, depressed, or irritable
- Expressing disgust about their own eating habits
People with an eating disorder are also more likely to have co-occurring anxiety or depressive disorder. For the best chance of long-term recovery, it is important to address all co-occurring conditions during treatment.
Why Are Eating Disorders Increasing in Adolescents?
COVID-19
Experts agree that COVID-19 is escalating an already rising mental and behavioral health crisis. Hospitals worldwide are seeing vast increases in hospital admittance and outpatient referrals for treatment related to eating disorders. Most cases involve anorexia nervosa and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.
One hospital in Australia reports “a 104% increase in children with anorexia nervosa (AN) requiring admission to the hospital for nutritional rehabilitation compared with the three previous years.” Since the onset of the pandemic, many hospitals are reporting a startling rise in hospital admissions related to eating disorders.
According to NEDA, many more people have been reaching out for help since the start of the pandemic. NEDA says monthly calls to their crisis helpline have increased about 80 percent compared to last year.
Eating disorders often stem from trauma, stress, and feeling a loss of control. COVID-19 is reinforcing these negative emotions as adolescents are experiencing many or all of the following:
- Disrupted school routine
- Loss of social activities and time with friends
- Loss of sports activities
- Loss of in-person recovery support
- Fear related to family finances and family job loss
- Fear of insufficient food in the house
- Fear of the unknown
Triggered by a desire to regain some sense of control in the current climate of fear and uncertainty, many adolescents are turning to the one thing they can control: their food intake.
Social Media
Young people are constantly bombarded by pictures and comments on social media about what is and is not desirable in terms of body weight and shape. The standard is unrealistic, yet adolescents believe in it, desire it, and often go to extremes to attain it.
Reports show social media use by teens has increased since the onset of COVID-19. The Children’s Hospital of Chicago conducted a survey of 3,000 parents entitled Parenting Teens in the Age of Social Media and found about 63 percent of teens are using social media more than they did before the pandemic.
Multiple studies have found adolescents who spend a lot of their time on social media often view their own bodies and physical appearance negatively and are more likely to engage in disordered eating. Young women who are already suffering from or in treatment for an eating disorder are more susceptible to the influence and pressures of social media, according to a study by ScienceDirect.
If you suspect your adolescent has an eating disorder, it’s important to reach out for help as quickly as possible. NEDA provides valuable information and resources on their blog How to Open a Conversation with Teens About Healthy Eating.
In 1989, Turning Point of Tampa developed what is now a nationally recognized Eating Disorders/Food Addiction Program for clients with Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa, and Anorexia Nervosa.
Turning Point of Tampa’s goal is to always provide a safe environment and a solid foundation in 12-Step recovery, in tandem with quality individual therapy and groups. We have been offering Licensed Residential Treatment for Addiction, Eating Disorders and Dual Diagnosis in Tampa since 1987.
