Eating difficulties

There are lots of reasons why young people may either go off their food, or eat more than usual. We can see from the Depression page that low mood can significantly affect our appetite, and anxiety and life events can do the same. This may be a temporary thing or a more long-standing difficulty where you may need some professional support in addressing it.

Children are sometimes described as ‘fussy eaters’ and this can at times be a warning sign of eating difficulties to come, but not necessarily.

In teenagers in particular eating difficulties can develop rapidly so it is important that young people get the help and support they need as soon as there are concerns.

It may be that the young person needs some help in learning about food and healthy eating, getting to know their eating patterns and in understanding what can trigger them to eat too much or restrict. It may be that their family also need to understand this so they can support their child in the best way. Evidence suggests that the most effective way of tackling eating difficulties is to involve the family and for the therapist to work with the people around the child, as well as the child individually. Of course we would talk with you fully about this before any interventions took place.

With any eating difficulty we would need to make sure the young person was physically well enough to engage in therapy so alongside any therapeutic intervention it may be necessary at times to involve the child’s GP.

If concerns escalated and the child was at physical risk then support from a wider professional group may also be required. Again, this would always be alongside discussions with the young person and their family.

If you are worried that you, or someone in your family may have an eating difficulty and need some support then please get in touch using the Contact Us page.