The child in question is almost 14, very severely anorexic. It's been obvious for a while and her mum officially told me today. They have very little in terms of a support network. The school have been really unsupportive and the GP seems to have been as well - she's on a waiting list to see a nutritionist but that seems to be it. The poor mum is having an absolutely awful time. Her DD doesn't have friends apart from my DC (they know each other from outside school), she's too unwell to be in school and is very unhappy there anyway so it's just her and her parents, who are really struggling to keep an eye on her / make her eat / stop her over-exercising and also hold down jobs.
The thing is, I got the impression, that her mum is maybe struggling to take on board the seriousness of it, which I totally understand - it's spiralled downwards really fast and I think she just can't believe it's happening. I don't mean she's in denial, she knows what's going on but I think she's hoping that a gentle approach will do the trick. They're trying to get her to stick to a high calorie diet but that's clearly not happening. I think she is just about maintaining her (very low) weight for now. But she looks really seriously ill to me (i.e. I would expect her to be in hospital at the weight she is at), and I can't see her getting better this way. I'm really worried for her and her parents. Other than being a listening ear, is there anything I can do to help? I think they are at their wits' end.