D IET VS E ATING D ISORDER H OW TO SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
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(APPG report, 2012) Up to half of young girls fear becoming fat
and engage in dieting Girls as young as five are worried about
their size and the way they look One third of boys aged 8-12 have
dieted to try and lose weight
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D IETING IS VERY COMMON AMONGST TEENAGERS but can you spot the
difference between a diet and an eating disorder?
Slide 4
1 Highly restrictive diet 2 No slips 3 Cuts out food groups 4
Other weight control methods used 5 Panics at the thought of eating
out 6 Diet success used as a measure of self-success T ELL -T ALE S
IGNS
Slide 5
One of the key differences between a regular diet and an eating
disorder is one of scale. Generally speaking, a young person with
an eating disorder will restrict their calorie intake to only a few
hundred calories per day. Allowing themselves to eat maybe less
than half the number of calories they are likely to expend in a
day. 1. H IGHLY R ESTRICTIVE D IET
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Very small portion sizesSkipping meals altogetherThrowing food
awayAlways choosing low fat / diet versionsAvoiding high calorie
foods like sweets or puddings L OOK OUT FOR
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Eating disorders sufferers tend to be very black and white in
their thinking and go with an all or nothing approach. They will
very rarely deviate from their prescribed diet, and if they do,
they are likely to punish themselves by eating even less for the
rest of the day, or doing heavy exercise or similar. 2. N O S
LIPS
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Very specific dietary rulesRigidly sticking to their rulesNot
deviating even for e.g. birthday cakeDisproportionate upset if
their diet slips L OOK OUT FOR
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People with eating disorders feel very comfortable with rules
and are often much happier to create a very strict rule e.g. No
Wheat and stick to it carefully rather than attempting to find
compromises and alternatives to foods they perceive as dangerous.
3. C UTS OUT FOOD GROUPS
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Adopting vegetarian or vegan diet Cutting out food due to
intolerance e.g. dairy, wheat, gluten Other rules such as no
puddings L OOK OUT FOR
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In addition to controlling their food intake, other weight
control methods might be used such as heavy exercise or laxative
use. 4. O THER WEIGHT CONTROL METHODS
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Exercising for several hours a day Constantly finding ways to
burn calories, may dislike sitting still Use of laxatives of
diureticsSelf-induced vomiting L OOK OUT FOR
Slide 13
A young person with an eating disorder would find the idea of
eating out with friends terrifying. The thought of having to
consume more calories than theyve budgeted for or having to eat a
meal where theyre not completely in control and may not know the
exact ingredients and/or calorie content is likely to induce
feelings of panic 5. P ANICS ABOUT EATING OUT
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Avoids eating in unfamiliar placesBecomes generally more
unsociableSticks to similar familiar foods L OOK OUT FOR
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Weight gain will be taken very badly and even a small gain will
make the young person feel like a failure as will failing to stick
to their diet rules. They will often also assume that everyone else
is also judging them according to their weight and dieting. 6. S
UCCESS MEASURED BY DIET
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Obsessing over insignificant weight gainJudging themselves
according to their weight Getting very angry over diet
deviationsDescribing themselves negatively using fat talk L OOK OUT
FOR