Have a positive attitude towards food

positive and normal attitude to food.
It is also normal to eat different amounts on different days, to eat more of the foods you like and less of what you don’t like, and to overeat or restrict intake sometimes.

Eating that is not normal is not so much about what you do that is skipping meals, restricting food or overeating but about the thinking behind it, how often it happens, and the feeling that you have to eat this way. What is, and is not normal eating can look very similar.

For example, you run out of the house without breakfast because you slept in and are worried about missing the bus. At school or work you feel hungry and grab a snack and eat a larger lunch than usual without even thinking about it. This is normal eating.

Your friend skips breakfast because she feels fat and believes she is being strong and in control. This cheers her up. Later, when she gets hungry she tries hard not to eat but when she can no longer resist she has a snack and feels ‘bad’ for losing control and being weak.

This is not normal eating. Both of these look very similar but there is different thinking behind it.
Eating that is driven by this strange thinking is called disordered eating and can be quite common.

Many people have “gone on a diet” to lose weight at some time. Dieting is so common some people see it as a normal part of eating. Dieting is not the best way to lose weight. People often gain back all the weight they lost when they stop dieting, sometimes becoming heavier than they were before dieting. It can leave you feeling down and unsuccessful.

For most young people dieting doesn’t last long and they soon return to ‘normal’ eating. This kind of dieting is not a problem, but it should never be encouraged. It is better to encourage healthy eating and regular physical activity for long term healthy weight.

For some vulnerable young people who feel anxious about their looks and body, dieting can be dangerous. They may feel they have failed if it is not successful. It can lead to more serious eating problems and increase their risk of developing an eating disorder.

An “eating disorder” is a clinical diagnosis that may be made when strange thinking about food and eating increases to the point where it affects your life.

People with an eating disorder become intensely worried about their body and anxious about their weight. They can’t see they are worrying about something that is not true and they may do dangerous things to try to lose weight.

An eating disorder is a complex psychological condition and only a trained professional such as a doctor or mental health professional can diagnose it.

Some of the most well-known eating disorders are:
Anorexia nervosa — where the young person believes she is fat, even when she is not and may have lost a lot of weight.

Bulimia nervosa — where the young person eats very large amounts of food because she has been starving herself, and then makes herself vomit, takes laxatives to make herself poo to excess or exercises to extreme.

Binge eating disorder — where the young person has times when she eats very large amounts of food but does not vomit, purge or exercise to “work it off”.

Compulsive overeating — where one is constantly overeating to make herself feel better. Food is used as a replacement for what is missing.

Eating disorders can have serious physical, emotional and social impacts. They can take many years to resolve and may involve time in hospital.

Causes of eating disorders
There is no clear cause for eating disorders. This makes it more upsetting for the person, family and friends, as they all try to think about what could have started it and what to do about it. However, the following factors may add to the risk that someone has of developing an eating disorder.

Individual factors

High personal expectations — always striving to be perfect in everything.

Setting unrealistic goals that the person believes will bring love and respect from family and friends.

Feeling the need to gain control over one’s life.

Overwhelming feelings of not being good enough, leading her to starve herself so that she gains a sense of being in control again, or following the binge-purge cycle.

Having low self-esteem — this can be hard to see because some people seem to be really ‘together’ on the outside, even when they are feeling bad inside.