Nipping eating disorders in the bud...

[VickyBHF]

Hi, wasn’t quite sure where to post this but could do with some wisdom from parents of DCs with eating disorders. I have an 11year old DD with mild depression and ADHD (treated) and she seems to be showing some food control issues ie reluctant to eat anything (even when the appetite suppressant medication wears off). She is borderline underweight. I have zero personal experience with this. I have mentioned it to our mental health nurse on the phone but it’s a recent referral we haven’t been able to meet her in person yet due to Covid. Any wise ideas of things we can be doing to support her from home? And is it possible to nip something like this in the bud before in escalates?? Thank you.

I am a bit confused about why she needs appetite suppressant medication (is it for any of the mentioned conditions?)? Otherwise how is everyone else eating? Maybe if she sees healthy relationship with food for the whole family she'll just join in? Also she is still quite young so possible when the hormones kick in a bit more she may start enjoying her food a bit more.

Is she into cooking? Maybe she could help with cooking the meals, that way she could decide what will be for lunch/dinner and help to prepare it which may help her with eating as well.

Sorry, that's basically what comes to mind. If she has a lot of exercise and sees healthy habits around her, that may pull her in the right direction.

Thanks for replying @zookeeper19. One of the side affects of the ADHD medication is a suppressed appetite. She does do lots of sport (ballet and running) and the rest of our family all have a very healthy non-complicated relationship with food. She does enjoy baking though, so it’s a good idea to get her to help more with meal prep, so thanks for that. I guess it’s just I am worried as she can be quite determined and competitive but I want to make sure that she steers these traits in a healthy way... and I am alarmed about her sudden determination to not eat....