Children as young as nine enter eating disorder treatment

Children as young as nine and 10 are receiving treatment for eating disorders, according to Elín Vigdís Guðmundsdóttir, chair of SÁTT, an advocacy association for people with eating disorders. She made the comments in an interview with Morgunblaðið’s Dagmál programme, reported by mbl.is.

Guðmundsdóttir described the development as serious and said adults needed to examine their own behaviour and the way they talk about bodies and appearance.

She said parents should respond immediately when young children begin controlling their diets or showing signs of dieting. “If children go on a diet, that is immediately not a good sign,” she said.

Guðmundsdóttir also said adults needed to consider their role in the culture in which children grow up, including the emphasis on appearance, weight stigma and the idea that a person’s value is partly determined by their body shape.

She warned that dieting guidance on social media could be particularly dangerous because the information might be very wrong and harmful, with greater emphasis on appearance than health.

Parents should receive support to discuss these issues with their children before the behaviour develops into a more serious eating disorder, she said.