It has been reported an increase in the incidence of anorexia in ten to fourteen years old and cases of prepubertal anorexia nervosa have been reported in children as young as age seven years old.
There was a case few years ago about promising young dancers presenting with anorexia nervosa. These children are subject to the same pressure to be small and slim as their older colleagues, and it is the impression that these places them at greater risk of developing an eating disorder than might others be the case.
The child who is becoming anorexic often become obsessive about counting calories and fat grams and begins to exclude foods she perceives as fattening. Sometimes she will turn to vegetarianism, ostensibly to “eat more healthily,” but it is, in fact, a way of controlling her intake of high fat foods.
In early onset anorexia, weight is controlled though food avoidance self-induced vomiting and excessive exercise; less commonly it can occurs though laxative abuse.
Children most often attribute food avoidance to a fear of becoming obese. Other reasons for food refusal are feelings of nausea or fullness, abdominal pain, appetite loss and difficulty swallowing.
The anorexic does not always believe that she is overweight. She may knowledge that she is thin but wants to be even thinner, and is still bothered by certain aspects of her body that she insists are too big. Prime areas of dissatisfaction are the abdomen, buttocks and thighs.
Anorexia among Children
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