You’ve heard this story before.
Ex-gymnast dies of Anorexia Nervosa.
An article on Office.com uses a supposedly hypothetical ex-gymnast named Allison to illustate the disease. First disordered eating, age-13, as a gymnast. Dies age-19 of a heart attack.
Prevention
… An adolescent female is 10-20 times more likely to have an eating disorder if a family member also has/had one. Parents who overvalue physical appearance can unwittingly contribute to an eating disorder. Model self acceptance of your own weight and body appearance and watch what you say. Making statements like “I can’t eat that; it will go straight to my hips,” or asking, “Does this dress make me look fat?” can send the message that thinness is the ultimate goal in life. Odd feeding schedules in infancy can lead to an eating disorder. Using food for rewards, punishment, comfort or other non-nutritive purposes can also lead to an eating disorder. Nagging about junk food and limiting a child’s access to treats will actually increase his/her desire to eat too many of these foods; even if they are not hungry. This can also lead to an eating disorder. If your child exhibits anorectic behavior feed him/her. Supervise their eating behavior, jack up the calories (up to 4,000 calories a day to replace lost weight) and limit exercise. Therapy won’t be of much help to a person who has no glucose in his/her brain. Discuss the media’s effect on pushing unhealthy dieting and life-threatening thinness with your child. It is estimated that the average American child will watch approximately 21 hours of television each week, and see more than 30,000 commercials a year. Actors and actresses who are the most successful and happy are invariably young, attractive and super thin. According to Health Magazine 1/3rd of female television network characters are underweight; however only 5% of population is underweight. Whereas, only 3% of female television network characters are obese, compared 25% of females with obesity in the real world. The message is loud and clear; try this diet or this product and look acceptable (maybe even as good as the 6 foot, 100 pound, “size zero” model who is smiling at you).
Dying To Be Thin
Anorexia Nervosa: Deadliest Psychiatric Illness
Gymnastics Coaching.com 