How to Tell if your Teen has an Eating Disorder - Common Warning Signs

Eating disorders are a serious mental illness and can start as early as 10 years old. In fact, the most at risk age range for developing an eating disorder is from 12 to 25 years old. Eating disorders are also said to be the “deadliest mental illness” because they are associated with the highest risk of death than any other mental illness, and this is usually caused by suicide or medical complications.

Considering the risks associated with this severe mental illness, it is worth being aware of the signs and symptoms that go with it. People often associate eating disorders with Anorexia Nervosa and extreme weight loss. However, there are actually various types of eating disorders, and Anorexia Nervosa is only one of them. Other eating disorder diagnoses like Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder are just as serious and can have as many physical and emotional implications, however the person can still appear to be at a normal weight. And, although eating disorders are more common amongst girls and women, boys can also be affected by this illness.

Even though eating disorders are a serious illness, it is also possible to make a full recovery, and the earlier an eating disorder is picked up and treated, the more chance the person has to recover. So, if you think your teenager may have an eating disorder, or would like to know what to look out for, than have a look at these common warning signs.

Increased Focus on their Weight and Appearance

It's common for teenagers to become more focussed on their appearance, and to some extent, be unhappy with how they look. However, in eating disorders, people can become pre-occupied with their weight and appearance to the extent that it causes significant distress and an extreme fear of weight gain. Behaviours in teenagers that may indicate an increased focus on weight and appearance include spending a lot of time in front of the mirror, he/she talking about wanting to lose weight or worrying about being fat, and frequently weighing themselves. Another sign to look out for is if going shopping for clothes seems to cause them a lot of distress.

Change in Eating Behaviours and Attitude to Food

A change in your teen’s eating habits are not always as obvious as eating significantly less or not eating. In fact, these changes don’t always happen suddenly from one day to the next, but rather happen subtly, and gradually over a period of time. Look out for things like your teen reducing their portion sizes, or cutting out entire food groups like carbohydrates, fats, sweets or proteins. They may start to skip some meals, or make excuses at meal times for why they aren’t hungry. Your teen might also start to not want to eat the family meal or become more controlling in the kitchen in terms of how things are prepared and cooked. If your teen is engaging in binge eating (consuming large amounts of food in short periods of time, usually in secret) you might find food going missing in the home or empty food packets in your teen’s room, or your teen frequently wanting to eat alone. A change in your child’s attitude to food can also include becoming more obsessive/interested in calories, or talking about wanting to avoid “unhealthy” food.

Increased Exercise or Becoming more Obsessive about Exercise

People with eating disorders can become obsessed with “compensating” for what they’ve eaten. What this means is that they think they need to get rid of the energy or calories from any food they have eaten for fear of weight gain. Often, people with eating disorders use exercise as a way to compensate, and this can lead to obsessive behaviours around exercise. For example, over-exercising by going to the gym everyday, or several times a day, and spending long periods of time at the gym. Equally, cancelling plans because they interfere with their exercise regime or exercising even when sick, are important warning signs to look out for.

Refusing to Eat Out or Go out with Friends

For someone with an eating disorder, going out to restaurants, or eating in front of others can be very anxiety provoking and even terrifying. If your teen is developing an eating disorder, they may start to avoid eating out with friends, or become upset and distressed when going out to a restaurant or café with the family. They might become really picky about where to eat out or which restaurants are ok or not ok to go to. People with eating disorders find it difficult to be flexible and spontaneous when it comes to food, so you might notice your child becoming very rigid and inflexible when it comes to eating out. At restaurants, they may take a long time to make their order or choose what to eat.

Strange or Unusual Behaviours at the Table

People with eating disorders often develop certain rituals or behaviours around food that may seem odd or unusual. Typically, the reason for this is that these behaviours help them feel “safer” or more in control around food. For example, your teen might eat really slowly as a way of eating less food. Other behaviours to look out for include cutting up food in small pieces, eating food in a specific order or not being able to mix food, eating very slowly or too quickly, only wanting to use specific cutlery or crockery, picking their food or being very rigid about eating times.

Change in Physical Appearance

As we already saw, a common misconception about eating disorders is that only people who are very thin or lose a lot of weight have eating disorders, however this is not always the case. People with Binge Eating Disorder, for example, are typically overweight, and people with Bulimia Nervosa are typically at a normal weight. Someone can even be diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa and have lost a significant amount of weight but not appear to be underweight. Of course this isn’t to say that sudden or gradual weight loss should be ignored, but other changes in physical appearance to look out for include swollen or what is called “chipmunk cheeks” from frequent self-induced vomiting, as well as scars or marks on fingers from forced vomiting. Wearing baggier clothes and wanting to “hide” their bodies can also be a change to look out for, as well as wearing long sleeves and pants when it’s still warm.

If you are worried that your child may be suffering from an eating disorder, consider seeking advice from a clinical psychologist.