Eating disorders and why seeing a specialist eating disorder dietitian is so important

Types of Eating Disorders

1. Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating disorder is a complex mental illness that affects a person in multiple ways, treatment approaches should be collaborative.

The professionals who typically make up a treatment team may include:

• Psychiatrist

• Medical doctor

• Therapist/counselor

• Registered dietitian

How can seeing on of our expert Eating Disorder Dietitian's help with recovery?

• Teach intuitive eating skills- making peace with their food and body. With binge eating disorder, food often becomes the culprit, as individuals struggle with a “love-hate” relationship with themselves and their bodies.

• Help identify non food related coping strategies - Individuals with binge eating disorder may also feel a sense of chaos that revolves around food, as foods are often eaten out of proportion to what is actually needed or for sheer emotional reasons.

• Help with stopping the restrictive dieting cycle - A person with binge eating disorder may also struggle with their weight or hyper focus on weight loss, which can further perpetuate a cycle of binge eating.

• Meal planning - balancing our blood sugar levels and ensuring the individual is eating enough of the right food to prevent lapses , binges and /or purges.

• Correct any nutritional deficiencies

• Myth Busting! - Your registered dietitian will also help an individual work through food myths, misconceptions, and fallacies that may be believed about food, weight, and intake.

• Monitor weight trends for you - A registered dietitian can also monitor weight trends, help with meal planning, grocery shopping, meal support and working on integrating family members into nutrition plans.

2. ARFID

According to the DSM-5 diagnosis criteria include

• eating or feeding disturbances marked by
  

  • significant weight loss or failure to meet expected growth in children

  • nutritional deficiency

  • dependence on oral or enteral nutrition supplements

  • marked interference with psychosocial function

• disturbance not marked by external factor, like poor access to food or other mental or health issue

• person does not have distorted body image

Management strategies for ARFID continue to evolve but include nutritional, psychological, sensory-motor and medical assessment, followed by plans focusing on:

• dietary – ensuring that nutritional needs are met to optimise growth and development

• psychological – management of parental/child anxiety and coping with mealtimes

• sensory-motor strategies – relating to the child’s environment, de-sensitisation strategies and the development of oro-motor skills

ARFID Signs and When to Seek Help

• avoidance of complete food groups, food textures

• difficulty trying foods with certain textures, smells, tastes

• accepting less than 20 foods

• poor appetite

• difficulty chewing/swallowing

• significant weight loss

• in children drop in weight and/or height percentile on growth curve

How a Dietitian can Help with ARFID

• Reduce mealtime and feeding anxiety.

• Assess potential nutrition deficiencies and provide appropriate recommendations as needed.

• Assess barriers to feeding including causes of feeding or eating difficulties.

• Referrals to additional health care providers (i.e therapist, occupational or speech therapist), as needed.

• Provide education on how and what to offer for meals and snacks.

• Positive approaches to introduce and explore new foods.

• Work together to select new foods to try.

3. Anorexia Nervosa

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Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterised by extreme dieting, severe weight loss and resulting malnourishment. Anorexia nervosa occurs when a person experiences intense fear and anxiety in relation to food and weight gain.Anorexia can have a multitude of adverse effects on the body, from wasted muscles and bones to cardiovascular problems and organ failure. Multi-discplinary intervention is key and we are here to help.

How a dietitian can help in your recovery process?

• Weight restoration

• Meal plans

• Myth busting

• Goal setting

• Eliminating any nutritional deficiencies

• Monitoring food intake

• Preventing any further complications of health

• Family intervention and meal planning

• Side effect control

• Preventing refeeding syndrome

• Liase with our multi-discplinary team

"DO I HAVE AN EATING DISORDER?"

Click HERE to download the EAT-26 screening tool

Or, you can answer the S.C.O.F.F Questionnaire:

• Do you ever make yourself Sick because you feel uncomfortably full?

• Do you worry you have lost Control over how much you eat?

• Have you recently lost more than 10kg (ONE stone)in a three-month period?

• Do you believe yourself to be Fat when others say you are too thin?

• Would you say that Food dominates your life?

If you feel you are ready to receive individualised 1-1 support, please email info@nutritionandco.co.uk and we will book you in with our specialist eating disorder dietitian.