THE eating disorders in recent years they have become a real one sanitary emergencyalso recently witnessed to the alarm raised about the high number of requests for hospitalization for these pathologies.
According to the data available today they would be over three million people in Italy living with an eating disorder (DCA), a term used to indicate a series of pathologies characterized by a dysfunctional relationship with food and an excessive concern for weight and body shapes.
Subtle illnesses also because often difficult to diagnose and over which many false myths still reign today. Precisely with the intention of raising awareness on eating disorders, it was born Positive Weighta project that, through an Instagram account (@positive_weight), aims to reach people suffering from DCA but also those around them by offering one space for discussion and above all for information. The protagonists of the project are Giulia and Beatrice, two girls with a history of DCA who through their experience intend to help those who are experiencing, directly or indirectly, this type of problem.
«It is a unique project that aims to to inform those who suffer from these disorders but also with those who are close to these people – says Claudia Grasso, head of Peso Positivo – We are a team that works with a single, important goal, that of promoting healthy and correct disclosure about DCA. In fact, a Technical Scientific Committee is also involved in the project, made up of psychologists, psychotherapists and a nutritionist, who are responsible for approving all the contents of the channel, also with a view to prevention“.
Among the objectives of the Positive Weight, in fact, also that of shedding light on the many false myths that circulate today on the theme of DCA, making parents aware of what may be the aspects to which to pay more attention. To better understand what they can be, we asked some questions to Dr. Anna OgliariAssociate Professor in Clinical Psychology, head of the service of Developmental Psychopathology of the San Raffaele Turro Hospitalas well as a member of the Positive Weight Scientific Technical Committee.
Doctor, what are the red flags parents should pay attention to?
«They are different and can concern several areas. The first signs are those that have to do with changes in eating habits. Let’s talk about changes which may initially present themselves in a more subtle way: the boy or girl begins, for example, to modify the your own meal planin terms of control, removing the superfluoussuch as snacks and snacks, and then slowly arrive at the most evident changes concerning the moment of meals. The boys start making excuses like “I’m not hungry”, “I’ve already eaten”, etc. Alongside these changes in eating behavior can also appear dynamics of social withdrawal or posting, we can witness a greater distance from parents as well as from the peer group. Even the mood can be affected and kids can seem sadder. In addition, typical rituals may appear: being increasingly focused on aspects that concern not only food but also one’s body, can induce those suffering from DCA to spending a lot of time in the bathroom or in front of the mirror, like getting a lot of exercise“.
Often the problem starts with a diet: what role does prevention play in this sense?
“We must first of all dispel a myth: you don’t get sick because you go on a diet. The scientific community now agrees that DCAs have some multifactorial causes, linked to individual characteristics and temperament as of biological origin or inherent in the sphere of relationship with others. We distinguish between predisposing, precipitating and perpetuating factors: diets are sometimes among the precipitating factors. In summary we can say that many teenagers get sick following a diet but it is not the diet itself that causes the disturbance: that is, other risk factors were present that could lead to the onset of the disorder itself. With a view to prevention, it is certainly important to provide information on the subject of proper nutrition, not only as regards the nutritional aspects of food but also on what concerns the emotional aspects related to food ».
What are the false myths that still surround the topic of eating disorders and that it is useful to dismantle to promote correct information?
“A very common false myth is that you get sick to follow a body model unattainable. Surely the identification with some bodily ideals is a component of the disorder but the boys do not get sick because they want to be models or models rather for those contributing causes we were talking about and which represent a sort of response to their difficulty in being in the world. A Another false myth is that males do not get DCA. It is not true: the percentage is lower and the onset of the disease is different, in some ways more subtle: in males you can notice greater attention to physical exercise and a control of nutrition to get to have a certain physical strength but they too get sick. It is also very common believe that eating is enough to recover from a DCA And that those with a normal weight do not suffer from an eating disorder. It is about false beliefs: these diseases, in fact, are so complex that you can have an absolutely normal weight but a cognition or thoughts, worries or behaviors that are part of an eating disorder. We always think of an anorexic body as a badly undernourished body and a bulimic body as an overweight body, when in reality this is not always the case.
Many parents come to ask themselves: “where did I go wrong?” Guilt can be very strong. What to answer to a parent who asks himself this question?
“It’s important dispelling the idea of ​​guilt. What is good to try to do is rather understand the causes, understand why children get sick, without pretending that getting to the cause means eliminating the disease. The sense of guilt it then often comes because DCAs have a such a sneaky debut that parents can realize this when those behaviors become very evident. Many parents blame themselves for not noticing this earlier. This is also why it is important to provide good information on the subject: to be able to recognize the signals we were talking about better and earlier ».
When a parent realizes that something is wrong, how can he intervene?
“In the meantime, it is important to let your concern pass without blaming the boy. The message doesn’t have to be “It’s your fault, you’re doing something wrong” but “I’m worried about you, there are behaviors that worry me and that lead me to ask for help”. After that it is necessary contact general practitioners and pediatricians of free choice which are usually the first able to give indications also on the second level centers, identified by the Ministry, specialized in treatments (a this link the map, ed). It is about centers where DCAs are treated with a multidisciplinary approachor through different clinical figures including psychiatrists, endocrinologists, pediatricians, nutritionists as well as psychologists and psychotherapists who are experts in DCA ».
Can these ailments be cured?
“Yes, it heals and it is important to say so. What is good to know, however, is that it can be a long journey, sometimes even years“.
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Source: Vanity Fair
