Is that person anorexic? Is that person
bulimic? These are the constant
questions that will be asked by others when it comes to eating disorder.
Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are the most common eating disorders that
are well known by most of the people. But do you know that there are still
other eating disorders that would have the symptoms just like Anorexia Nervosa
or Bulimia Nervosa? Disorder such as Food
Emotional Avoidance Disorder (FEAD), selective eating, and Functional Dysphagia
were example of eating disorder that yet to be recognized or established as
eating disorder. However, these three disorders are more common among children
and adolescents as compared to adults.
Food Emotional Avoidance Disorder (FEAD)
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| Source: Google |
Food Emotional Avoidance Disorder (FEAD) is a disorder
used to describe a group of underweight
children who have inadequate food intake and emotional disturbance. (Khan & Chowdhury, 2011). The symptoms of FEAD
would usually be mistaken as Anorexia Nervosa or
other emotional disorder such as anxiety and depression. The reason for them
not eating was not because of their body weight or size but rather they are
constantly being affected by their mood which leads to the loss of appetite and
eating. Those who suffer from FAED are usually between the ages of 5 and 16
years. (Khan & Chowdhury, 2011).
They are aware that they are underweight but they do not feel the hunger and do
not have the eager to consume food like normal children their age.
Selective Eating
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| Source: Google |
Selective eating was used to describe children who
only eat or consume food that they favored. The food that they pick maybe due
to the color, the saltiness or sweetness of certain food that will trigger their taste buds. This
disorder usually limits their intake of a balanced diet. We often refer selective
eater as “picky”. According to Health Canada (as cited in Hamilton Health
Sciences, 2007), there are 4 food groups that selective eaters often do not
consume.
- · Milk
- · Grain products
- · Vegetables and fruits
- · Meats
This disorder is commonly seen in pre-school children and those of
ages 7 and 11 years. They do not have the willingness to try new food and they
would prefer to stick to their own food list. Selective eaters usually have
normal body weight and have adequate amount of food intake which help them in the
growth and development of their body. Besides, they have no difficulty in
swallowing or keeping down their favoured foods.
Functional Dysphagia
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| Source: Google |
Functional Dysphagia or food phobia is the most
serious of all the three disorder. Children suffer from this disorder are
afraid of eating especially lumpy or solid foods. They refuse to consume food for
the fear that it may contain poisons that would kill them or believe that swallowing
the food would cause them to choke or vomit. (Royal College of Psychiatrist,
n.d. ) The reason for not eating was not because the concerned of body size or
weight but they may suffer from certain traumatic experiences that triggered
the phobia.
Below is the table obtains from Trillium Health
Partners (2013). The table contains short description of all the three disorder
that are usually found in children.
Table 1.0 The short description of the three
disorder mentioned. (Trillium Health Partners, 2013)
Eating may look simple and small but none of
the living things in the world that do not need to eat to survive. Therefore healthy
eating is important especially among children who need large amount of
nutrients for growth and development of their body. It is crucial for us to
take serious note on the disorder mentioned to protect our children. Our actions
determine the fate of our future generation. Parents should take good care of
their children before it is too late. As the saying goes, prevention is better
than cure. Therefore, they have to make their children health as the first
priority. Always remember that a “healthy mind comes with a healthy body”.
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| Source: Google |
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope that
you get some benefits from what you had just read.
1) http://www.counseling.org/news/blog/aca-blog/2015/09/09/more-than-just-anorexia-and-bulimia
2) http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/76_5.pdf
3) http://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/documents/Patient%20Education/PickyEater-trh.pdf
4) http://www.iffgd.org/site/gi-disorders/functional-gi-disorders/dysphagia
Jocelyn Ng Xiao Hui (47102).
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