Treatment Notes by Sari Fine Shepphird

More Kids Today Are Unhappy with Their Bodies

A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation press release this week announced the following: "7% of 5th
graders unhappy with body size".
 
According to a new study, Canadian children as young as 10 years old may benefit from programs to "improve satisfaction with body shape". The study of 4,254 Nova Scotia fifth graders suggests girls were
happiest when thinnest while boys were unhappy when they were too skinny or too fat.
 
The study was designed to look at the prevalence of poor body satisfaction in prepubescent boys and girls, and associations with body weight and socioeconomic factors.

In 2003, researchers measured the height and weight of students and asked them how much they agreed with the statement: "I like the way I look." The choices ranged from "never or almost never," "sometimes" to "often or almost always," and a response of "never or almost never" was considered poor body satisfaction.

Overall, 7.3 per cent of girls and 7.8 per cent of boys reported poor body satisfaction.

Indeed, body image dissatisfaction is becoming increasingly commonplace in our kids, but you may not be aware of how early the weight obsession is starting.

·     Research shows that dieting to lose weight and fear of fatness are common in girls as young as 7, and 81% of 10-year-old girls say they are afraid of being fat.

·     In 1970, the average girl started dieting at age 14; by 1990, the average age dropped to 8.

·   Fifty-one percent of 9- and 10-year-old girls say they feel better about themselves when they are on a diet, and one-half of 4th grade girls are on a diet.

·    Nearly one-half of teenage girls and one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, or taking laxatives.

·    A recent study showed that adolescent girls were more afraid of gaining weight than of nuclear war, developing cancer, or losing their parents!

The relationship between poor body satisfaction and increased risk of eating disorder behaviors such as use of vomiting, laxatives and diet pills is well established.

Therefore, our kids need to see a wide range of body types being embraced, messages of the thin ideal being contradicted, and their unique and individual beauty being applauded and cherished.

A highly recommended resource along this line, helpful to parents and in turn, their children is Dara Chadwick's new book, "You'd be so pretty if..."

Exercise Addiction

A study published last week had this headline, "Exercise can be addicting".

Surprised? Maybe not. Nevertheless most people might not assume that something like exercise, which depending on how you practice it, can make you sweat and leave you exhausted, might actually be addicting.

Family-Based Treatment of Eating Disorders (a.k.a. Maudsley Therapy)

As promised, I wanted to highlight a few key "take away" items from this year's American Psychological Association (APA) Convention that  took place this month in Toronto, Canada.

Several sessions about eating disorders were of note, including a symposium entitled, "Role of Culture and Eating Disorders: An International Perspective", and "Evidence for Treating Eating Disorders in Adolescence", the latter of which I will focus on today.

The Myths about "The Myth about Exercise"

I attended the American Psychological Association's Annual Convention last week in Toronto, Canada and hope to soon be able to share some of what I learned there, but today I wanted to comment on something that I saw on the airport news stand...

You may have seen the article form this week's Time Magazine entitled "Why Exercise Won't make You Thin" (subtitled on the cover as "the Myths about Exercise"). In this piece, the writer asserts that exercise may not help a person lose weight, and not only that, it may even add to the pounds. He even quotes someone who says, "in general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless."

Myth or Reality?