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Teenagers Skipping Meals To Stay Thin
In direct contrast to our previous story about how obese teenagers are refusing gastric surgery, there is still the other end of the eating disorder spectrum that is plaguing our society: under-eating.
Under-eating can lead to bulimia (deliberately vomiting after a meal) or anorexia (just not eating). Like obesity, both are psychological problems more than physical. The girls (it often affects girls far more than boys) think that they are too fat, when actually they are underweight.
All too often we receive comments from teenagers asking how they can lose more weight, but when they provide their height and weight, it is often the case that they are underweight or at the low end of being an ideal weight.
The recent research carried out in the UK by the Schools Health Education Unit found that about 10% of all teenage school girls skipped 2 meals each day – breakfast and lunch – and just ate dinner in the evening when they got home. Also, 26% of girls aged 14-15 years and 20% of 12 years olds skipped breakfast on a regular basis.
Skipping meals if often damaging and leads to even worse eating disorders in later life, such as bulimia and anorexia. The problem is still that many girls think that the only way to look beautiful, like the actresses and pop stars they see in the glossy magazines, is to eat less food. The sad fact is that this makes the body age quicker and the skin deteriorate rapidly. Looking young and healthy requires a healthy diet and exercise.
If more athletes were role models then maybe our teenage girls will start to learn how to be fit and healthy rather than skinny and sickly. Most anorexics quickly learn to disguise their ill health with make-up, which is possibly one reason that girls are more likely to spiral to greater depths of anorexia than boys.
Really the only way to help people combat eating disorders is to identify and tackle the problems early on. Once again both schools and parents need to work together to ensure that children are eating a healthy, well balanced diet and getting regular exercise. If either party is left to take responsibility then children will continue to hide their problems until it is too late.
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