8 year old anorexic?!?!?1

amother

Sun, Jul 15 2007, 10:00 am

I just found out some disturbing information from my father.
My little sister, almost 8 years old, is in the 90th percentile for height... and 5th percentile for weight.
That's INSANELY underweight.

She apparently leaves over food, even when she's hungry, because she "doesn't want to get fat".
I mean I understand where she got that from- her mother and sisters and father are all dieting because they're over weight.

But its scary!!
She'll eat if people sit down with her and wait for her to eat more food...
But what do you suggest being done?
It really seems like we're talking about a case of childhood anorexia here...

I'm sorta worried and freaking out here.

She IS a very active little kid, probably burns a lot of calories that way. And my siblings and I were all skinny at her age- but in the 105th percentile for height, and 90th or so for weight, so skinny, but not anorexically so...
We had a fast metabolism, makes sense that she would do.
But the leaving over food because she "doesn't want to get fat" is very worrisome...

Anyone have any experience with this?

greenfire

Sun, Jul 15 2007, 10:08 am

I'm going to tell you what I told my dd ... mostly when people aren't eating it is because they are worried they will become overweight or even view themselves as fat ... you cannot convince them otherwise ... what you can do is to let them know that in order to be healthy and skinny one must balance out a diet of good eating so they can eat and not become FAT ... by making sure to eat whole wheat breads and vegetables, proteins, drinking water ... snacks should be fruit and yogurts ... things like that ... you could even bring her to a nutritionist so that she could chart how much of what she is allowed to eat and still keep her body healthy and nourished while maintaining weight ... if she doesn't eat healthy, etc. she will be damaging her body and that is the opposite of what she wants ... so ...

don't bombard her though - if everyone is telling her this it is likely to exacerbate the issue ... 1 person quietly take care of her with her doctor/nutritionist ... and then make sure to have these healthy foods available ...

chocolate moose

Sun, Jul 15 2007, 11:03 am

Sure. That was me . . a healthy weight now . . and it was DD - in high school, out of a hundred maidlach, dd was the smallest on the percentile.

and you know what? I grew up just fine. and dd also grew up just fine, discussing healty foods, healthy eating. we walk and exercise and do the grocery shopping and eat some meals together.

don't push. that's the last thing that's gonna help.

Nicole

Sun, Jul 15 2007, 12:40 pm

But this is different. She's in one of the highest for hight and one of the lowest (percentiles) for weight. I would have her see a nutritionist to evaluate if she's eating enough for her bodily needs. Sometimes kids just need to be educated about what's a normal amount to eat. A nutritionist will usually be able to tell if there's a real anarexia prob and if the child needs to see a therapist, or if they're just thin and it's normal, or if they just need to work on their eating habits to eat a bit more because the child just doesn't KNOW.

amother

Tue, Jul 17 2007, 2:13 am

greenfire wrote:

I knew my kid was anorexic way before the doctors and therapists knew ... and anorexic people don't want to be told they are anorexic ... so you must proceed with caution ...

I understand your point but because this is an 8 year old we are discussing, I think its a different situation altogether.
She probably doesn't even understand what anorexia is and what it leads to.

OP I think someone needs to educate her about anorexia to give her a wake up call.

red sea

Tue, Jul 17 2007, 8:53 am

My non prof could be wrong opinion with unorganized thoughts & rambling;

I would NOT call attention to it nor make a big deal. shes prob copying the rest of the DIETERS in the house. Someone should sit down with her & explain proper nutrition & reassure her she wont get fat like the rest of them if she eats correctly (explain they got overweight by eating the wrong foods & too much). Dont focus on what shes doing now, just try to see if she really accepts what you say in her heart, not just, yeah, ok whatever, you dont really know. Explain that the pple who really look great treat their bodies like expensive cars or something always eating the right amount - not too much & not too little - that also can harm the body & make one ugly) , always nutritous foods but even with occasional snack.

I'm guessing she sounds obsessed with not getting fat, not nesicarily (sp?) anorexic. But c"v you never know, it could go further so be careful how you tread. I would think the pediatrician would get concerned if it was extreme. By the way, anorexics are to the extreme of counting how many peas they ate and counting calories of cucumber slices. After they eat they'll intentionally exercise (not play) to work off the calories. They'll also push food around their plate to make it seem like they ate or hide food in their napkin (not talking about hiding it cuz they dont like it ) So b"h she's doesn't sound there. Just reassure her that what she sees her fam doing is get rid of fat they already have from eating wrong & she wont become like that if she eats correctly.

Also what choc mousse said - be careful not to push, that can harm the sitch.