This article appeared in my local newspaper today. The Hospital for Sick Children, known as Sick Kids, in Toronto is one of the world’s largest childrens’ hospitals.As this article is from one of the news services, it is probably in many newspapers across Canada today.
OTTAWA — The attention on obesity and prevention programs in schools may be more damaging than beneficial as some doctors are finding children as young as five are being treated for such eating disorders as anorexia and bulimia.
Dr. Leora Pinhas, who heads the eating disorders program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, said she is seeing more younger children in her program now compared to five years ago when the majority of her in-patients were teens.
Recent statistics coming out of Britain reveal that in the past three years, 197 children from ages five to nine in the United Kingdom sought treatment for an eating disorder.
In the same period in Canada, the number sat at 166 children from ages five to 12, said Pinhas.
“You have to keep in mind that our population is smaller than the U.K. We are 33 million, they are 55 million,” she said.
According to 2008-09 statistics from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, eight boys under the age of five sought treatment for an eating disorder compared to zero for girls. In the age range of six to 10, no boys were admitted but 17 girls were.
The numbers shoot up dramatically for girls between 11 and 15 (386 were admitted for treatment) and girls between the ages of 16 to 20 (572 were admitted for treatment).
Pinhas said eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia tend to be generational and can pass through three generations of women.
A 2005 study regarding early onset eating disorders co-authored by Pinhas found anorexia has been on the rise over the last 50 years and is the third most common chronic illness affecting adolescent girls.
In Ontario, there are less than 20 hospital beds — split among Toronto, Ottawa and London — for kids and teens seeking treatment for eating disorders, a number that has to change, says Pinhas.
“I get about 100 new patients every year,” said Pinhas, who always has a waiting list.
“One in five teenage girls will have an eating disorder. I have 10 beds; I always think who’s the one who will not make it. It breaks my heart,” she said.
Pinhas is aware of five adult women who died from an eating disorder since January.
“They don’t tend to die in childhood, but five (deaths) is a lot already,” she said.
“We see children in sports like gymnastics, skating and ballet where they get clear messages that how tall they are and how heavy they are will affect whether they can be competitive,” said Pinhas, adding kids in these situations are told to lose weight and are rewarded if they do.
She also says the magnitude of our attention on obesity and putting overweight people in the same category has blurred the definition of obesity.
“Someone with a BMI of 25 is overweight; someone with a BMI of 45 is obese, but it’s seen as the same thing,” Pinhas said.
Prevention programs in schools are also influencing children to cut the fat, said Pinhas, who asks her own kids to be excused from the lectures.
“Kids are learning about good foods and bad foods. For the wrong kid to be told sugar is bad for you, then they go home and don’t eat sugar and will also think other things must be bad,” said Pinhas.
“Kids are very black-and-white thinkers. There are no greys; it’s all or nothing,” she said, explaining how the program questions parental authority and puts the responsibility on the child to follow through with healthy food choices.
Pinhas advises parents to make sure their child gets his or her height and weight measured at least once a year. Stunted growth is one of the first signs a child may be dealing with an eating disorder.
“If they are a normal size in kindergarten and all of a sudden the shortest kid in the class in second grade, that is a sign,” said Pinhas.
— Postmedia News