The pediatrician, core topic the core topic rising cases of anorexia and bulimia

Cases of eating disorders are increasing every year. According to the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health, the figures range from 5.5% to 17.9% in women and from 0.6% to 2.4% in men. These problems affect not only the person suffering from them, but also their family and friends. That is why specialists recommend being alert to possible signs or changes in behavior, such as spontaneous food restrictions, increased physical exercise, or trying to eat alone, among other actions. 

In this context, psychiatrists and pediatricians from the Clínica Universidad de Navarra carried out a work with specialists from the Niño Jesús University Children's Hospital in Madrid and the La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital in Valencia, which highlights the need to improve prevention andmultidisciplinary work . This project, which has been published in the journal Anales de Pediatría, highlights the core topic role core topic pediatrician in both detection and initial stabilization. 

Dr. Azucena Díez, director of the Clinic's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, explains that "anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder are serious mental illnesses that often appear in childhood and lead to significant deterioration in physical, psychological, and social health." 

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by restricted food intake, leading to weight loss that remains below the recommended level for the individual, who may experience intense fear of gaining weight, body image distortion, and other psychopathological symptoms such as sadness, distress, irritability, or social isolation. 

On the other hand, bulimia nervosa is characterized by repeated episodes of excessive food intake in a short period of time. However, the person subsequently resorts to vomiting or laxative use to avoid weight gain.

Finally, binge eating disorder affects people who find eating calming and comforting, but after bingeing, they experience the opposite effect in the form of anxiety or distress. It is common for people in this group patients to be overweight. 

According to Dr. Díez, "we have detected an increase B eating disorders after the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led us to analyze the status conclude that the pediatrician's intervention is very important as an agent of prevention, early detection, assessment support." Dr. Covadonga Canga, a psychiatrist at the Clinic, adds that if this professional "detects a possible case, they must act immediately to stabilize the patient while accessing specialized care." 

Detect changes in habits

For a healthy diet, it is necessary to give preference to fresh products and reduce ultra-processed foods. With regard to disorders, in order to prevent them, researchers emphasize the importance of avoiding restrictive diets, fasting, or weight loss without medical supervision. It is also important to promote healthy habits, including family meals and a positive relationship with body image. 

On the other hand, specialists recommend being alert and suspicious if somatic symptoms such as abdominal pain, dizziness, amenorrhea (absence of menstruation in a woman of childbearing age), or any unusual eating behavior are detected. For example, according to Dr. Pilar de Castro, symptoms that may indicate that a person is suffering from bulimia include increasingly restricting fatty or high-carbohydrate foods, a tendency to prolong mealtimes until they are alone and easily dispose of food, or going to the bathroom after finishing to induce vomiting, which is usually masked with noise to conceal it. In addition, it is important to be suspicious of significant weight loss that is unrecognized, excused, or minimized. 

In that case, it is important to apply for financial aid as soon as possible and share as much information as possible with the professional.

 
Doctors Covadonga Canga (left) and Azucena Díez (right) were the pioneers of the study.

More common in women

Although eating disorders can affect people of both sexes, these pathologies are more common in women. Dr. Azucena Díez specifies that disorders such as bulimia "usually manifest themselves around the age of 17 or 18, and in the transition phase between adolescence and young adulthood when a person's self-esteem is still being built." 

Dr. Díez states that "among the risk factors for developing these disorders, gender stands out—they are approximately 10 times more common in women—as well as young age. In addition, there are other individual, family, and cultural characteristics related to food and body image, such as Genetics predisposition, insecurity traits, or the widespread social idea that women should have a certain body type. 

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