The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders: Supporting Self-Esteem, Healthy Eating, and Positive Body Image at Home

The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders shows that effective solutions begin at home and cost little more than a healthy investment of time, effort, and love. Based on exciting new research, it differs from similar books in several key ways. Instead of concentrating on the grim, expensive hospital stays of patients with severe disorders, the authors focus on the family, teaching parents how to examine and understand their family’s approach to food and body-image issues and its effect their child’s behavior. Parents learn to identify an eating disorder early, to establish healthy attitudes toward food at a young age, and to intervene in a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental way. The authors concentrate on teens, the age group most often affected by eating disorders, as well as younger children. Individual chapters cover boys at risk, relapse training, dealing with friends, school, and summer camp, and much more. The book includes an appendix and sections on further reading, organizations and websites, residential and hospital programs, and references.

ISBN-13: 9780936077031

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

Publication Date: 04-28-2007

Pages: 324

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Marcia Herrin is the founder of the Dartmouth College Eating Disorders Prevention, Education and Treatment Program, one of the most respected programs of its kind in the nation. She is also the author of the professional text, "Nutritional Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders (Brunner-Routledge, 2003). Currently, she runs a busy private practice specializing in children and adults with weight issues and eating disorders. Dr. Herrin received her Master's in public health from the Universityof California at Berkeley, and her doctorate in nutrition education from Columbia University. A sought-after expert on children with eating problems, Dr. Herrin was featured in a People magazine cover story on eating disorders on college campuses (which was reported by Nancy Matsumoto), has appeared on The Today Show and 48 Hours, and has been quoted in The New York Times, Shape Magazine, and other print media. She has also served as a consultant to a wide variety of public and private universities and school systems. Nancy Matsumoto is a former staff correspondent for People magazine and a freelance writer. She writes human-interest news, entertainment, and medical articles, including numerous stories on health, eating disorders, and body image. She has also been a contributor to Time, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, among other publications.

Table of Contents

Foreword     vii
Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     xiii
Marcia's Story     xix
Identifying an Eating Disorder
At Risk: Recognizing an Eating Disorder and Spotting Early Warning Signs     29
Bad Habit or Dangerous Behavior? When to Worry About Disordered Eating     50
Prevention: The Power of the Preemptive Strike     66
The Family on the Front Lines     84
Boys at Risk     99
Medical Consequences of Eating Disorders     111
Taking Action
Breaking the Ice: How to Open the Discussion     143
Avoiding Parent Traps: How Improving Your Relationship to Food and Your Body Can Help Your Child     162
Beyond the Family Circle: Friends, School, and Summer Camp     179
Using Maudsley Methods
The Maudsley Approach: Treating Anorexia Nervosa     199
Parent-Assisted Meals and Snacks (PAMS): A Nutrition-Oriented Interpretation of the Maudsley Approach to Anorexia     206
Using PAMS and the Maudsley Approach to Treat Bulimia and Binge-Eating Disorder     221
A Mother's Account: How PAMS Tipped the Balance in My Daughter's Fight Against Anorexia     232
Healthy Eating Guide
Normalizing Eating with a Food Plan     239
Getting the Most Out of the Food Plan     265
Normalizing Exercise     296
Managing Relapse     318
When You've Done All You Can: Professional Resources and How to Use Them     334
In Closing     361
Bibliography     367
Index     375 Show More