How to PREVENT ANOREXIA

Eating disorders or eating disorders are a group of common psychological conditions among the adolescent and young population. They are characterized by a diet restriction, misuse of laxatives, an obsession with physical exercise or other behaviors such as binge eating, among others. Given its danger and high incidence, the prevention of these disorders from an early age is very important and necessary to reduce these indices and to be able to identify and treat their signs and symptom. One of the most common and well-known eating disorders is anorexia, it is for this reason that, in the following Psychology-Online article we want to talk about how to prevent anorexia nervous since childhood. First, we will explain what anorexia nervosa is and then we will detail different strategies to prevent this disorder.

Index

1. What is anorexia nervosa?
2. Have good eating habits
3. Eat together
4. Promote self-esteem
5. Practice physical exercise
6. Promote good family communication
7. Have a good rest
8. Practice extracurricular activities
9. Encourage criticism of beauty myths and stereotypes
10. Do not start diets on our own
11. Carry out prevention and awareness campaigns in schools
12. Be clear about your symptoms

The anorexia nervosa It's one of the Eating disorder more serious. It is mainly characterized by a combination of episodes of feeding restriction, known as anorexia, that is, not eating food or rationing it to the maximum.

Binge eating and purging episodes can also occur to prevent weight gain, which we understand as bulimia. These behaviors may include inducing vomiting, excessive physical exercise, and the use of laxatives and diuretics.

Normally, this disorder tends to appear around the 17 years, mostly in women and these people usually have the levels of the Low BMI (body mass index), in relation to variables such as age, height and weight, due to poor eating habits, which is a serious situation risk to your health. In many cases it is a difficult disease to treat because most of the people who treat them sufferers are unaware and, therefore, are reluctant to all kinds of help and treatment professional. But, obviously, this is not the case in all cases, the joint collaboration of both the patient himself, his family and health professionals can give good and successful therapeutic results.

Continuing with the purpose of this article, below we will expose 11 different strategies for preventing anorexia that can be applied to both children and adolescents.

It is very important to prevent anorexia from childhood. Both parents or family members and the school can encourage from this stage to integrate the healthy foods in your diet, establish some regular meal times to avoid skipping meals, reduce the consumption of sweets and unhealthy foods, etc.

Eat together with family members, from an early age whenever possible, to that this is a space and a comfortable shared moment and thus improve communication between your members. In fact, it is recommended that since babies start complementary feeding it is better that they eat at the table with his family, as explained in this article on the introduction of solid foods to babies.

Both as children and adolescents since, feeling safe with yourself, valid and competent will make your self-conception and self-esteem is higher and, therefore, the chances of suffering anorexy. Here you will find activities to strengthen self-esteem in boys and girls.

Practicing a sport that motivates them and makes them feel comfortable is highly recommended to promote some healthier habits and routines from childhood and so that your mental health is also balanced. Practice sports and exercise are activities to prevent anorexia.

Facilitate fluid, empathic and healthy communication between family members, in order to receive the necessary support and reinforcement to cope with adversity of the life. In this article we offer some keys to fostering unity in the family.

Another measure to prevent anorexia is to ensure a good rest. Try that both children and adolescents comply with their sleep schedules habitual, since resting and sleeping the necessary hours will help them feel more energetic, more active and they will feel better physically and psychologically.

Another way to prevent anorexia is to practice hobbies. Whenever these are of interest to them, it will make them feel more comfortable with themselves, more competent and will encourage healthy social relationships with peers.

Develop in them a critical thinking in relation to beauty stereotypes both male and female. They have to try to see reality as it is and accept and understand that all bodies are valid and that the pressure caused by these ideals transmitted by the media can be very harmful to our health. Therefore, we should avoid derogatory comparisons and physical-centered comments between people.

Another measure for the prevention of anorexia is medical supervision. Do not start or start weight loss diets that are not supervised or controlled by a health professional. Your doctor or dietitian will recommend the diet that is best for you.

Carry out prevention and awareness campaigns in educational centers about anorexia, provide information about its symptoms and causes, can help students become more aware of this disease and have more tools to identify it and face it.

Informing educators, teachers, mothers and fathers about the signs and symptoms of anorexia is very important so that they can detect the disorder early. Consulting a health professional immediately is the best measure to catch this disease in time, in order to avoid complications. Here you can see 20 consequences of anorexia.

It is recommended that all these tips are started from childhood, to have, from the beginning, integrated these habits and thus prevent the development of diseases related to the feeding. It is also interesting to know the following bulimia nervosa prevention measures.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to prevent anorexia, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

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• Doyen, C, and Cook-Darzens. S. (2004). Anorexia, bulimmia: guidelines to prevent, face and act from childhood. Barcelona: Amat.
• López, C and Treasure, J. (2011). Eating disorders in adolescents: description and management. Las Condes Clinical Medical Journal, 22(1), 85-97.
• Yeste, G. (2016). The influence of the media in the suffering and recovery of anorexia nervosa: a bibliographic review. Final degree project. Cadiz University.