Children as young as 5 suffer from eating disorders; 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011, 4:00 AM
Could children as young as 5 become anorexic?
While it seems hard to believe that at that age there could be awareness of a link between weight loss and appearance, British health authorities have reported 197 kids 5 to 9 years old have been hospitalized for eating disorders.
Data from 35 hospitals showed that 98 children were age 5 to 7 at the time of treatment and 99 age 8 or 9.
Numbers spiked with approach of adolescence – around 400 were age 10 to 12, with more than 1,500 13 to15, according to Agence France-Presse.
Because many hospitals do not release data on their patients, many experts believe these numbers may underestimate the problem.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorders charity B-eat, said the latest figures reflected "alarming" trends in society, with young children "internalizing" media images that seemed to reward only the thinnest.
"A number of factors combine to trigger eating disorders. Biology and genetics play a large part in their development, but so do cultural pressures, and body image seems to be influencing younger children much more over the past decade," Ringwood said. "The ideal figure promoted for women is that of a girl, not an adult woman. That can leave girls fearful of puberty, and almost trying to stave it off."
In the US, 42% of girls from first to third grade want to be thinner, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Fat fear starts early – 81% of 10-year-olds say they are afraid to put on weight.
Eating disorders are psychologically and physically lethal – they carry the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
With AFP Relaxnews
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