The British Department of Health reported yesterday that an increasing number of young people are being hospitalized for eating disorders.

"Research by the Children's Society said children are becoming fixated on their appearance, with seven out of 10 reporting they dieted because of the intense pressure to be thin, the British newspaper [The Daily Telegraph] said."

Over the past four years, nearly 400 young people under the age of the 10 have been admitted to hospitals due to eating disorders. Source: Daily India.

Labels: body_image, pressures, young_girls

In recent years, studies have found that about 42 percent of first- through third-grade girls want to be thinner, and 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. These thoughts are serious and potentially dangerous for young kids.

"The cute mice of a new storybook, 'Full Mouse, Empty Mouse: A Tale of Food and Feelings,' are foot soldiers in a budding campaign led by medical professionals, like author and clinical psychologist Dina Zeckhausen, who contend the scourge of eating disorders in North America should be addressed at the earliest age."

Zeckhausen's book is part of a larger initiative called "mindful eating" that seeks to teach kids about the connections that should and shouldn't exist between emotions, food, and body image. Read more at Statesman.com.

Learn more about Mindful Eating at WeightLossCentral.org.

Labels: emotions, feelings, young_girls

Until recently, doctors associated anorexia with teenage, Caucasian girls who succumbed to the pressure to be "perfect". But the increasing diversity of anorexic patients is causing doctors to question its origin.

"Seven years ago 'the idea of seeing a 9- or would have been 10-year-old anorexic would have been shocking and prompted frantic calls to my colleagues. Now we’re seeing kids this age all the time,' [David] Rosen says. There's no single explanation for the declining age of onset, although greater awareness on the part of parents certainly plays a role."

Because the pre-teen and early teen years are a critical growth period for children, anorexia can be especially damaging to a young person's health. Debilitating conditions like low blood pressure, decreased heart function and drops in testosterone or estrogen can affect children within months. Read more at MSNBC.com.

New Leaf Academy is a private boarding school for middle school girls. Young girls' potential is impacted by their early-stage emotional and developmental needs. Learn more about their private school for girls.

Labels: anorexia, development, young_girls