Hi and thanks for your reply/question - I think some people are lucky enough truly to recover but like you, I still struggle from time to time as I was quite severely ill for a while. I have reached a BMI of 20 which I've maintained for a couple of years, and really felt the benefits both physically and mentally (I can think a lot more clearly, I am physically much stronger and my body temperature is much better regulated). But I would not say I'm completely recovered. Glad you're doing better now though!

Hi, and sorry it's been such a while since these questions were posted.

whatareyoueatingNOW

I don't think stopping children having dessert or making them eat their dinner is a "recipe for eating disorders" - I'm fairly sure of what caused mine and there were a lot of contributing factors that weren't to do with rules around food or eating while I was growing up. That said, if you can avoid using moral language about food ("I'm going to be naughty and eat this cake/I've been good and gone to the gym/I shouldn't have this but I will compensate for it later") that can only be a good thing, I still (gently) pick friends up on that sort of thing. One of the things I'm actually most grateful for was that a love of fruit and veg as opposed to processed things was inculcated in me very early, as well as a rule that if someone cooks it, I at least try a bit of it - this despite the fact that I am by inclination very fussy!

ScrumpyBetty
That is such a hard question - all I can say is try not to react with anger (although it can be so upsetting and frustrating) and definitely acknowledge the problem instead of ignoring it or pretending it isn't there. Also, especially with eating disorders, the more early and aggressively you can intervene, the better. It only gets more entrenched the longer it goes on.
Also, this is tricky to phrase, but I think it's really crucial not to see these sort of things as directed at parents per se ("they are just doing it to hurt me/get a reaction" etc) but also to acknowledge that there may be some things going on which, through no fault of the parents, are causing children huge stress. Massive family arguments pretty much all of the time was why I started and I simply wasn't allowed to say that they were happening, let alone that they were a problem - more than 15 years later I'm now starting to work out that they were.

Thanks for the questions! Not insensitive at all.