Diagnosis and Treatment of Eating Disorders in Young Children

Anorexia is a condition in which children restrict their food intake until they become dangerously underweight. Complications include severe nutritional deficiencies, severe dehydration, cardiac problems, renal problems, loss of muscle mass leading to severe weakness, severe fatigue and fainting. The condition can be deadly.

Bulimia is a condition in which children eat very large amounts of food in one sitting, known as bingeing, then make themselves vomit or use excessive amounts of laxatives to get rid of the food they just ate, known as purging. Complications including nutritional deficiencies, severe dehydration, mouth sores, dental problems, ulcers, weakness and fatigue. Cardiac problems can also result.

Children with binge eating disorder eat large amounts in one sitting but they do not vomit or use laxatives after eating. They may go on severe diets between binges, though. Complications include morbid obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Pica is an eating disorder that is more common in children than in adults, unlike other types of eating disorders. It's a condition in which children eat non-food items like paint, plaster, dirt, pebbles, leaves, bugs, string, cloth or hair. It's most common in mentally retarded and autistic children but does occur in other children, as well. Complications include poisoning and intestinal obstructions that may require surgery. In some cases, the condition is fatal.

Causes

It's hard to say for sure what causes eating disorders in young children, just as it is hard to say for sure what causes them in adolescents and adults. It's likely a combination of factors and may differ from child to child.

Some studies have found that children with parents with eating disorders are more likely to develop eating disorders themselves. This may mean there is a genetic or hereditary component to these disorders but may also mean children are learning unhealthful or disordered eating habits from their parents.

Some researchers have suggested that chemical imbalances in the brain, like those that cause depression, may lead to the development of eating disorders in some children. That may be why children with eating disorders often suffer from conditions like depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder as well as eating disorders. Those conditions are less common in young children than in adults or teenagers, but psychiatrists have diagnosed depression and other psychological disorders in children as young as three years old in some cases.

Children with pervasive developmental disorders such as autism are more likely than others to develop pica, so the behavior may be related to the developmental disorder. However, other children sometimes develop the condition. Some experts believe that vitamin and mineral deficiencies, such as iron deficiency, can cause pica in some people.

Treatment

Everyone with an eating disorder needs treatment but the type of treatment that is most effective for young children is not the same as the type of treatment that works best for most adults or adolescents.

People with eating disorders, regardless of their ages, often require medical treatment for the medical complications caused by their disorders. Children should see a medical doctor with experience treatment the complications of eating disorders in young children; not all pediatricians have such experience.

Young children with eating disorders should receive mental health treatment, as well. Traditional psychotherapy often does not benefit young children the way it helps adults and adolescents but young children often respond well to play therapy. Children should see a therapist that has experience treating young children with eating disorders.

Sources:

Web MD. http://children.webmd.com/features/eating-disorders-children-teens . Eating Disorders in Children and Teens.

Vanderbilt University. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology/childrenandED.html . Children and Eating Disorders.