Daughter hardly eating

podperson

The bits that would worry me are the hiding food and the regular weighing and measuring. These could point to the start of an eating disorder. Have you tried speaking to her about how she feels about her weight and the way she looks? Do you think she seems insecure/negative about her body, does she talk about herself critically or compare herself to other people - either her peers or people in the media etc.

fluffnutter

It's not so much her weight - kids are actually supposed to be skinny - it's the deception. OP, what are your own attitudes towards food? Take your daughter to the docs and see what they advise. Be prepared to have to examine the whole family's attitude towards food and mealtimes and the family dynamic per se. Eating disorders (if indeed that's what your daughter is starting to have) are rarely simply about eating.

Good luck.

katie1812

I completely agree with what others are saying. It could well be nothing but as a mum you're definitely doing the right thing in following up your concerns. The weighing herself regularly could be a bit of a concern, unfortunately the world we no live in means the media make skin and bones seem the best way to look

Wishing you lots of luck

lika_86

Also, I'd hide the scales.

my3girls

Thanks everyone, we don't have scales in the house here she was doing it at my mums.

I managed to speak to my mum about it yesterday and worryingly she had mentioned to my mum & dad that she felt 'fat' she has never said this to me :-(

I think here we have a very good attitude to food, healthy food, family meal times, I've never dieted we're all a pretty normal (well, what's normal lol) family.

My mum joined weight watchers a year ago and had lost a considerable amount of weight, im wondering if this is where dd has been getting the ideas for weighing herself, feeling fat etc

Dd told me yesterday that she feels like she is choking when she eats which is why she only has small amounts, but tbh I don't know if she is using this as an excuse as she has never mentioned it before.

We have the doctors today I'm going to go in first as not wanting to let her know I'm that worried, I've also got an appointment with the school next week so they can keep a distant eye on her at lunchtimes.

Thanks so much for all of your helpful advice it is very much appreciated

JJ
X

podperson

my3girls wrote: »

Dd told me yesterday that she feels like she is choking when she eats which is why she only has small amounts, but tbh I don't know if she is using this as an excuse as she has never mentioned it before.

I believe this is something that's actually considered fairly common in people who have eating disorders. The psychological anxiety about eating gets so great that they actually feel like they're physically choking/unable to eat.
Hope you get on ok at the GPs x