PROBLEMS WITH EATING

Many people experience problems with eating. They can occur at any age but often affect teenagers – both males and females. Eating problems include a range of different concerns. Often, food intake may be restricted either as a way of losing weight or for other personal reasons not involving weight loss. For other young people, there may be a cycle of eating lots in one go (binging) and then compensating for this with behaviours including restricting food, forcibly vomiting or taking laxatives. Some people may binge without doing these behaviours afterwards and others have a combination of the above difficulties. Finally, there are some children and young people who have very restrictive diets because they struggle with the taste of new foods. This can make it difficult for them to get the nutrition they need and can cause social difficulties such as eating out with family/friends. Eating problems can be very distressing both for you and your family and it can be hard for those around you to understand. Eating problems can also affect both your physical health and your emotional wellbeing and people can feel quite lonely trying to deal with it by themselves. If you are struggling with any of these issues, there is help out there, both through local services and self-help resources.

To Find Out More… B-eat are a charity with great information about eating difficulties: