L‘anorexia, and eating disorders in general (DCA), in Italy they affect over three million people. They are estimated every year approximately 8,500 new cases and unfortunately only 10% ask for help. Recent data speak for themselves: since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic have increased by 30% cases of anorexia and bulimia, diseases that represent the second cause of death between 12 and 25 years. 90% of the victims are women. Fortunately, the disorders of nutrition and eating will become part of the LEAs (Essential Levels of Assistance). In addition, a fund at the Ministry of Health with an endowment of 25 million for the two-year period 2022/23 for these issues.
Positive weight to talk to parents
In the last ten years the age of onset of eating disorders has dropped dramatically. They usually occur in adolescence and this makes them more difficult to diagnose. In this period of life, in fact, the physical changes that accompany adolescence and which lead to weight imbalances, they can mask the early stages. The strictly physical symptoms are then associated with mental ones. The patient, mostly female, has a distorted image of his own body, he sees himself overweight and therefore refuses food, until he no longer eats normally. For especially raise awareness among parents about DCA, do prevention and be a source of support and discussion for those who are going through these problems, is born Positive Weight. The project involves the development of a profile on social platforms. Protagonists Giulia and Beatrice, who tell the disease in a spontaneous and fresh way e they share the path needed to fight and defeat this type of ailment. All the material produced is screened and approved by the Technical Scientific Committee.
The alarm bells
“There are many red flags to look out for in identifying an eating disorder. Primarily, parents may notice a change in eating habits: reduction of snacks, skip meals completely or reduce quantities finding excuses like: “I’m not hungry”, “I’ve already eaten enough”. Other signs may be theincreased exercise, changes in school performance, mood worsening and becomes irritable. You will notice the thoughtful son or daughter, more introverted and less available to socialize with peers and family members “, explains the Professor Anna Ogliari, physician and clinical psychologist, head of the developmental psychopathology service at the Eating Disorders Center of theSan Raffaele Hospital in Milan, in the Scientific Technical Committee of Positive Weight.
Anorexia: what to do?
“It is necessary to ask for help. We need to act on two fronts: first of all consult professionals. The first step is to general practitioners or pediatricians, depending on the age of the child, to understand which is the nearest specialized center. It is necessary to address the family first to a diagnostic framework and then towards a care process. To do this collaboration with the young patient is needed which, however, will resist. The possible cure, in fact, goes in the opposite direction with respect to its objectives and hinders the control that it tries to exert on one’s body and on one’s emotions », Professor Ogliari warns.
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