Childhood Eating Disorders

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By Suzanne V. - 2007-12-15
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Our society has become obsessed with being thin and our children are no exception. They're tempted everywhere they go with unhealthy food choices and an even unhealthier lifestyle.

Eating food that is filled with fat and empty calories and days spent sitting in front of a computer playing video games. They hardly stand a chance. We feed them everything that makes them fat, then tell them they should be thin. Instead, we should be giving them healthy balanced foods and daily exercise. In addition, a natural herbal formula of moringa seed extract which provides vitamins, minerals, B-complex, protein, and essential fatty acids should be a daily routine.

The two major eating disorders that affect our children today are anorexia and bulimia. A child with anorexia will become so obsessed with becoming thin that they'll starve themselves or binge and purge and exercise to excess. Even after getting below a weight that is normal for their height, they still see themselves as too big. Anorexia most commonly begins affecting teenage girls, although boys can also suffer from the disease.

Young people with bulimia, as with anorexia, are totally pre-occupied with their weight. They never see themselves as thin enough. People who suffer from bulimia will eat large quantities of food and then purge, or vomit, so they don't consume the calories from the food. Except when they're binging and purging, bulimics tend to eat very little. They, too, have a tendency to exercise excessively and never see themselves thin enough.

Both of these diseases cause severe trauma to the body. Besides the obvious skeletal appearance, they can cause the hair and nails to become thin and brittle, the skin to become dry, menstruation to stop, fatigue to set in, the organs can be effected, tooth decay can occur, and blood pressure can become low. If left untreated, both conditions could eventually lead to death.

There's no known cause for these diseases. Low self-esteem and the desire to be accepted by their peers may be a contributing factor. A child with an obsessive-compulsive personality could be willing to go for days or weeks eating next to nothing to reach the unrealistic weight goal they've set for themselves and still not be satisfied they're thin enough. Our society has made it impossible for young girls to be able to accept themselves. How can they, when every magazine they open yields images of skinny models and actresses for them to envy.

We need to provide our children with healthy choices in both food and lifestyle.

Teach them how to exercise on a regular basis so it becomes a way of life.

Build their self esteem. Don't constantly refer to their weight, talk more about their health. Explain to them that the models they see in the magazines and on TV aren't necessarily healthy.

Get them on a regime of natural vitamins and minerals which will build their immune system and help restore healthy hair, teeth and bones.

The 100% natural blend of herbs such as rose hip seed, hibiscus flower, elderberry, grapeseed, orange peel, lemon peel, and goji berry will help build red blood cells, too.