daughter showing signs of anorexia

This seems to be against the voice of what everyone else is saying here, but why is cutting out junk food and meat a bad thing? How many times on this board do we gasp and vent about the crap that kids are eating these days? It could be that she is just trying to eat healthier and is taking an interest in her health and may just need some direction on how to do it. I wouldn't talk to a specialist at this point, but I would commend her for wanting to stop poor eating habits and I would ask her what brought about the change. I would encourage her to continue eating fruits and help her learn about nourishing her body with other foods and help teach her how to educate herself on health. I wouldn't bring home her favorite candy; I can't tell you how many times my husband does that when I am trying to detox and it just hinders my progress and brings my energy down making ME angry. I know that your heart was in the right place, but it really is counterproductive especially if she develops a disorder. It might be a good idea to take her out on a "health" date, take her to the gym to work out, get a good post workout snack and then head off to the book store to get some material on how to take care of your body. Girl time! :)

ETA that I have a 10 year old daughter who is just starting to take an interest in these things, so I am just letting you know which track we are on and seems to be going really well for us and her.

Missy
 
Again, another post where the OP obviously expected unquestioning support all around.

Why the heck do you post these personal things on the INTERNET with virtual STRANGERS and get upset because they tell you something you don't want to hear????

Yes, there IS a problem when 12 year olds have access to the internet with no supervision. Are you living under a rock? Do you not know of the dangers of internet stalkers who prey on young children?

Mothers like you make me laugh with your "Oh, gee, why is this happening to my family?" followed by the defensiveness that follows when faced with not-so-flattering opinions/questions after YOU ASK.
 
>This seems to be against the voice of what everyone else is
>saying here, but why is cutting out junk food and meat a bad
>thing? How many times on this board do we gasp and vent about
>the crap that kids are eating these days? It could be that
>she is just trying to eat healthier and is taking an interest
>in her health and may just need some direction on how to do
>it. I wouldn't talk to a specialist at this point, but I
>would commend her for wanting to stop poor eating habits and I
>would ask her what brought about the change. I would
>encourage her to continue eating fruits and help her learn
>about nourishing her body with other foods and help teach her
>how to educate herself on health. I wouldn't bring home her
>favorite candy; I can't tell you how many times my husband
>does that when I am trying to detox and it just hinders my
>progress and brings my energy down making ME angry. I know
>that your heart was in the right place, but it really is
>counterproductive especially if she develops a disorder. It
>might be a good idea to take her out on a "health" date, take
>her to the gym to work out, get a good post workout snack and
>then head off to the book store to get some material on how to
>take care of your body. Girl time! :)
>
>ETA that I have a 10 year old daughter who is just starting to
>take an interest in these things, so I am just letting you
>know which track we are on and seems to be going really well
>for us and her.
>
>Missy

Missy, her wanting to learn to eat healthy is a good thing. But unfortunately a 12 year old does not necessarily understand what types of fuel their growing body needs. They tend to just jump on an idea and go with it. The young lady that had the problem on the swim team started by rejecting school lunches because they were so bad. She was substituting very low calorie veggies and not providing her body with all the nutrients she needed. This went on for a year, and I think it really caught her parents by surprise. At first I think they were OK with it because the girl was slightly overweight. And then it esculated, and because she did not understand nutrition well enough, it kept getting worse and worse. The worse image I have of her was sitting on the bleachers at a swim meet, so sad because her times were terrible, her skeletal knees sticking out, and her eyes dark and hallowed out. It upset ALL of her friends, because they could see it but she could not. Soon after that her parents took her to a nutrionist, and by 4 months later, she had put weight back on, gotten her strength back, but also achieved her desire of eating well. So taking this young lady to a nutrionist now may save months of pain.
 
I went to the county fair last week with my family. I can not believe how skinny the young girls are these days. I know being skinny is a good thing, but this is too skinny. This must be a new trend???? I think it looks awful! They look frail and weak...almost non-existent! I hope this "trend" ends before my daughter is that age!

In one post above, someone mentioned blaming young Hollywood....I think I have to agree!! Have you seen the Olsen twins lately??? Yuck! On the other hand, I saw Jessica Biel on Extra and she looked awesome! Why can't that image be the norm? Hopefully, this will change!

Sara
 
She has shown signs of improving, eating more and being back to her normal self. She's with her dad for 2 wks and I gave him a head's up on the situation. If I had to guess I'd say she was just playing with the whole thing but wasn't fully committed. I will stll keep a close eye on her though. Thanks for asking :)
 
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