Eating Disorders
Range of Eating Disorders
 Early
Childhood
– Feeding disorder of infancy/early
childhood
– Pica
– Failure to thrive
 Later
Childhood/Adolescence
– Anorexia
– Bulimia
 Obesity
– medical condition
Eating and Normal Development
 Problematic
eating common in early
childhood- 1/3 picky eaters
 Societal norms affect girls more
Developmental Risk Factors
 Drive
for thinness
– Motivates dieting
– refers to the belief that losing more
weight is the answer to overcoming
problems
Developmental Risk Factors
(cont.)
 Risk
factors for later eating
problems :
– early problematic eating behaviors
– early pubertal maturation
– high percentages of body fat
– concurrent psychological problems
– poor body image
– Chronic dieting
Developmental Risk Factors
 Drive
for thinness
 Disturbed eating patterns
 High body fat/being overweight
 Chronic dieting
Anorexia Nervosa
 Refusal
to maintain body weight
 Intense fear of gaining weight
 Disturbance in body image
 Amenorrhea in women
2
types
– Restricting
– Binge eating/purging
Associated Features
 Malnutrition
 Depression
 Anxiety
 OCD
(anorexia)
Developmental Course
 25%
full recovery
 50% partial recovery
 Early
onset may be assoc. w/ less
negative prognosis
 Protective factors: early intervention,
good family functioning
Bulimia Nervosa
 Recurrent
episodes of binge eating
 Some compensatory behavior
 Self-evaluation overly influenced by
body shape & weight
Interventions/Treatment
 Anorexia
– Family treatment
– Increase ego strength & autonomy
 Bulimia
– CBT: self-monitoring of food/eating,
modify distorted cognitions,
– Interpersonal therapy
Binge Eating Disorder
 Binge
eating without compensatory
behavior
General Comments
 .5
to 3% of young females
 Highly culturally specific
Etiology


No single factor
Biological Context:
– Genetics
– Neurochemistry
– Brain-imaging

Individual Context:
– Body image
– Personality characteristics

Family Context:
–
–
–
–

Overly involved/intrusive
Overprotective
Rigid
Indirect conflict resolution
Cultural Context
 Pica
– eating inedible, non-nutritive
substances for one month
– very young children and those with MR
– Causes:
 poor
stimulation
 poor supervision
 genetic factors in some cases of MR
– treatments based on operant
conditioning
Obesity
 Obesity
– chronic medical condition characterized
by excessive body fat BMI above the
95th%)
– affects children’s psychological and
physical health
– increasing- as of 1990’s, 15% of
children were overweight
– Childhood obesity likely to persist into
adolescence and adulthood
Figure 13.2 Bigger meals, bigger kids. Sources: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, McDonald’s, and Newsweek.