Adolescents are especially susceptible to eating disorders with the starting point usually being growing obsession with physical beauty, body weight and shape, writes Aruna Raghuram “I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame. I have an eating disorder.” — Jena Morrow, American author and activist. Eating disorders are caused by complex mental health problems and are characterised by abnormal and extreme disruptions in eating habits and behaviour, which can severely damage healthcare and social interactions. Adolescents are especially susceptible to eating disorders with the starting point usually being growing obsession with physical beauty, body weight and shape. Lady Diana, the Princess of Wales, famously suffered from the anorexia bulimic syndrome — an eating disorder. American singer, song-writer and actor Demi Lovato was also diagnosed with an eating disorder and would alternate between starving, over-eating and forcing herself to vomit. Now healed, she is a strong advocate of adolescent and young women developing positive body images. Eating disorders are more common among adolescent girl children and young women. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), 10 percent of young women in the US suffer from eating disorders. Dr. Sanjay Chugh, a Delhi-based senior consultant psychiatrist, believes that eating disorders affect 25-40 percent of adolescent girls and 20 percent of teenaged male children in India. “Most eating disorders are under-reported and under-researched in India because of the stigma surrounding it. Adolescents are especially vulnerable because the teen years are a period of intense physical, psychological and emotional change and children experience swings of emotional turmoil, high and low,” says Dr. Chugh. Dr. Prerna Kohli, a Gurugram-based clinical psychologist and founder of MindTribe.in, concurs. “There has been a significant increase — from 1.7 to 2.8 percent — in eating disorders during the years 1990 to 2016, and that’s probably an under-estimate. Generally, they are more common in girl children, but adolescent male children and young men who exercise excessively and follow unhealthy diets are also susceptible,” says Dr. Kohli. Following the nationwide Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, increased anxiety about health and well-being, restrictions on personal mobility and social interaction, excessive digital/social media usage, and sedentary lifestyles, have prompted a new surge in eating disorders among adolescents worldwide. For instance, an April 2021 study of the US-based Epic Health Research Network has found a 25 percent rise in hospital admissions related to eating disorders in the 12-18 age group during the pandemic. COMMON EATING DISORDERS The three common types of eating disorders are: Anorexia Nervosa. This is the most common disorder with a high mortality rate. Symptoms include intense anxiety and fear of putting on weight and refusal to eat. Self-starvation is accompanied by intensive exercise and patients becoming severely underweight. Many anorexic teen girl children may also stop menstruating. This leads to osteopenia or early bone loss. Anorexia also causes heart damage, kidney diseases…
