Anorexia Nervosa in Children
This is a serious and comparatively rare condition characterized by a resistant refusal to eat and marked loss of weight. Most commonly the disorder occurs in teenage girls; only about one in fifteen cases of anorexia are in male.
The disorder tends to start with a wish to lose weight with rigorous dieting and develops into virtual starvation. As her weight continues to drop the patient becomes emaciated, and may stop menstruating, but nevertheless may claim that she is well and is eating as much as she can. In some cases the patient may swing from periods of virtual starvation and weight loss to binges of overeating, producing gross obesity. Usually the anorexic patient has had a normal development before the onset of the disorder; she may well have been very hardworking and excelled academically; often she is physically active and athletic. It has been suggested by some authorities that the anorexic finds adolescence a very threatening stage of development and that her weight loss and disappearance of menstruation represent an escape from the demands of growing up, but this is not certain, and other people have suggested different causes, including physical, rather than psychological, ones. A variety of treatments has been used for this problem, including psychotherapy, family therapy, and behavior therapy. In severe cases the patient is usually hospitalized.
Parents who are concerned about this problem should consult any appropriate professional, including family doctor, pediatrician, or member of a child guidance clinic.