Kid's with eating disorders

[GeordieWife 1]

Now this is the sort of rubbish we need to STOP!!!!!!!! argh! #######!!! 9 and 10 year olds!!!!!

Kids deal with eating disorders

10:52 AM CST on Wednesday, December 5, 2007

By STEVE STOLER / WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV

Lauren Pate Also Online

Steve Stoler blogs on his son's eating disorder battle

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Children's Medical Center:The Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Center for Pediatric Psychiatry

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SomethingFishy.com: Website on Eating Disorders

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EDReferral.com: Eating Disorder Referral and Information center

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The Elisa Project: Educate, Prevent, Hope, Heal

DALLAS - Diets can begin innocently, but they can also soon turn into one of the most terrifying and agonizing experiences for a parent.

Children not eating and wasting away slowly is a problem that has plagued parents across the country.

Now, there appears to be an even more disturbing trend. Kids are being diagnosed with eating disorders at younger and younger ages.

Just a few years ago, the idea of treating a 9-year-old child for an eating disorder would be shocking; but sadly, that has changed. At Children's Medical Center of Dallas, it's no longer unusual to see kids as young as seven being checked into their special unit for children with eating disorders.

Deciding she wanted to slim down, Lauren Pate, 11, said she started counting calories.

“I was losing weight," she said. "I was getting on the scale every day. I was getting lighter and lighter and I was like, 'Well, I still look bad. I still don't like the way I look.'"

A few pounds dropped, but Lauren continued her diet. In fact, she couldn't seem to stop.

“She would always keep herself covered," said Stacey Pate, Lauren's mom. "When I actually saw her without any clothes on, it was very scary. It was like Lauren was going away from us."

Dan and Stacey Pate took their daughter to a doctor, a nutritionist and a counselor, but she continued to starve and lost even more weight.

“The harder that you try to push and make the person do what you believe is good for them, the more the eating disorder pushes back and tries to maintain control," Mr. Pate said.

Lauren's parents brought her to Children's Medical Center, where she endured four months of intensive treatment.

WFAA-TV

Paul Koke Paul Koke, 10, said he decided Paul Koke, 10, said he decided to start eating healthy one year ago so that he could get six-pack abs. Soon thereafter, he stopped eating altogether. The boy said he would even lie to his parents about eating his lunch.

The 60-pound fifth grader quickly dropped 14 pounds.

“You think you can make your son eat, but you can't make him eat,” said Chris Koke, Paul's father.

Cathy Koke, Paul's mother, said she just couldn’t grasp what was happening.

“He was a boy and he was ten," she said. "Who gets an eating disorder at 10?”

The number may be surprising. Eleven million Americans are

are diagnosed with eating disorders every year. One in ten of those 11 million are 10-years-old or younger.

“There's some illusion that they are in control of it and can stop whenever they want because they remember that they started it, but it becomes a vicious, life-threatening and out-of-control cycle," said Dr. Stephanie Setliff, who treats kids with eating disorders at Children's special unit.

While no one knows the exact cause of anorexia nervosa, Dr. Setliff said a myriad of emotional factors can play a role, which can include a child's personality and temperament to issues at home or school. She said the youngest patients are often the kids who have a difficult time expressing their feelings.

“It just doesn't take very much to push children into a sense of panic and an out-of-control feeling and have them start looking for ways to feel more in control, and that's how these eating disorders can start," she said.

The Kokes said they believe their divorce may have triggered Paul's problem.

“That conflict that they don't have any control over," Mr. Koke said. "It's like, 'I do have control over something,' and somehow they find that in not eating, in their diet. And once that grabs a hold of them and they have control of that, it makes them feel good."

Both parents of Paul and Lauren said their children are now healthy and happy. Treatment helped them control the debilitating illness that once had power over them. However, the children and their parents say it's still a daily, and possibly a life-long, struggle. “

The families said they hope sharing their stories may help others in the same situation. The eating disorder unit at Children's has reported a high rate of success.

The struggle continues, however. More people die from anorexia than any other mental illness.