If you answer “Yes” to several of these questions, talk with your child and pediatrician.
- Does your child skip family meals and prepare her own food instead?
- Is she following her own diet?
- Are certain food groups or nutrients categorically excluded?
- Are no- or low-calorie foods and drinks a major part of daily intake?
- Has she adopted a “healthy” vegetarian diet suddenly and obsessively?
- Are diet pills or preparations in her possession?
- Is she overly concerned with losing or gaining weight?
- Have you found laxatives that you did not give her?
- Does she hide food in her room?
- Does she visit the bathroom after eating?
- Does she flush the toilet, run water, or turn on the shower while in the bathroom?
- Has your plumbing repeatedly and inexplicably become clogged?
- Does she have an unusual number of scratches or cuts over her knuckles?
- Does she have swollen cheeks or lymph nodes around her face, or broken blood vessels in the whites of her eyes?
- Has she lost a lot of weight in a short time?
- Does she look gaunt?
- Does she get dizzy or is she easily fatigued?
- Does she have frequent headaches, heartburn, or constipation?
- Have her periods stopped?
- Does she play with her food without actually eating it?
- Has she developed downy hair on her face, arms, and back?
- Can you see the bones of her back and collarbones clearly outlined?
- Does she have bruises along her backbone?
- Does she wear loose, bulky clothing?
- Does she exercise for hours on end with a routine that can’t be interrupted or changed?
- Has she become withdrawn from her friends or family?
- Does she seem more secretive?