July 2002
As a parent, coach, church leader, teacher, mentor, or other caring person involved in a young girl's life, it is important for you to be aware of signs and symptoms associated with common eating disorders (EDs). The next several issues of F.I.T. Decisions News will be familiarizing you with some of them.
* Unnatural Thinness: For some pre-teen and young teen girls, being very, very thin is natural. But in these cases, weight is usually stable and essentially unchanging, and other ED signs and symptoms are absent. Thinness characteristic of Anorexia, and in some cases Bulimia, may either be fluctuating (gaining and losing, gaining and losing, etc.) or else over time she just continues to reduce. In extreme cases the girl becomes emaciated and is at risk for severe health problems, even death.
* Avoidance of Eating: Anorexics can be very creative in covering up the fact that they are eating very little or not eating at all. Some tactics include spitting food into a napkin, playing with food or pushing it around the plate without actually eating, eating exceedingly small bites, taking a long time to chew and swallow, throwing food away, lying about eating ("Oh, I already ate at Jenny's house."), and claiming to not be hungry, to name a few.