Day 5 - Recovery Challenge

What actions do you believe could be taken in the future to help prevent your child(ren) or close friends from ever developing an eating disorder?

First off, I do not think there should be such an emphasis on the way someone looks.  People need to understand that self worth is not based off of being "pretty" or "skinny".  I also believe that if parents have trouble with being overweight, they should NEVER advertize skipping meals and dieting in front of their children. Kids should never be taught that there are "good" foods and "bad" foods, or ever be told to lose weight by their own parents... especially if they are perfectly healthy being in normal weight range. Parents can make a huge impact on self-esteem, and they should be there to build up their child's. Parents always need to be there to listen to their child so they can express their emotions. Also, parents must not push perfection so much on their child. Failure is human, it does not make you a bad person. There is nothing wrong with not being the best. Parents need to tell their kids over and over that they are beautiful, no matter what size clothes they wear. I feel that parents need to model healthy eating for their kids to observe, but not obsess about every cookie their child eats. Parents should give their child more opportunities as they get older, because a child should NEVER feel powerless or be told "...because I'm the parent...". If a sibling EVER teases another sibling about their weight, it must be stopped immediately.

There are many triggers of an eating disorder and people need to be aware of these so they don't play a role in the factors for someone becoming anorexic or bulimic.