Teasing About Weight May Put Children At Risk Of Binge Eating Disorder

“Do you really need to be eating that?” “Slow down, I’m worried about your health.” These are just a few of the many weight- and eating-related comments a HuffPost reader named Haleigh heard from her parents. They may seem innocuous to someone who doesn’t struggle with weight or didn’t grow up being constantly criticized for their body. But these and other comments made Haleigh, who at 5’6 was a perfectly healthy 160 pounds in high school, invest in a personal trainer and the Weight Watchers diet program. The weight-based criticism also made Haleigh feel terrible about how she looked, which in turn fed unhealthy behaviors including secret eating.   Now, at 24 years old, Haleigh weighs 240 pounds ― and she’s still getting those same comments from her family, despite the fact that she’s asked them to stop. “Looking back at it, it’s f.ing insane to think that I was at a pretty healthy weight for my height and still feeling so shitty about my body,” said Haleigh, who asked to have her last name withheld. “While I know their intentions may be good because they love me, they simply don’t understand how much it kills me inside.” Jaclyn Saltzman, a doctoral researcher in human development and family studies at the University of Illinois, isn’t surprised that Haleigh struggled with secret eating, a characteristic of binge eating disorder. In a recent review of the studies on bi...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news