Emotional eating occurs when a child eats for other reasons than hunger. Societal norms can teach children to celebrate their successes and drown their sorrows with food. Food is a large part of weddings, birthdays and funerals. It's no wonder that many children eat to cope with emotions and develop disordered eating patterns.
Causes
Some children who use food to cope with their emotions suffer from depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other mental health disorders. If your child seems overwhelmingly sad or anxious, has trouble succeeding in school, has problems making and maintaining friendships or has experienced a traumatic situation, he might be suffering from a mental health disorder that needs attention. Ask your child's pediatrician for a referral to a local social worker, psychologist or psychiatrist in your area.
Significance
Many children who suffer from emotional eating become overweight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that childhood obesity can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma and sleep apnea. Children who are overweight are often teased and left out by their peers. They often have or develop a low self-esteem. These eating patterns can also lead to eating disorders.
Eating Disorders
Children with poor eating habits can develop anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or a binge eating disorder. KidsHealth from Nemours reports that symptoms of anorexia nervosa include significant weight loss, intensive exercising, denying hunger and withdrawing from social activities. Symptoms of bulimia nervosa include binging and purging, taking laxatives, over exercising and withdrawing from social activities. Children who binge eat compulsively overeat without purging.
Considerations
Children learn many of their eating habits from their parents. If a child's parents deal with their emotions through disordered eating, often their children learn to deal with stress in this way, as well. Parents who deal with stress in healthy ways, such as exercising, spending time with family and meditating, show their children healthy examples of coping with unwanted emotions.
Prevention
Parents can help to prevent emotional eating by leading by example, encouraging their children to talk to them when they are feeling stressed or upset and getting them help for mental health issues such as depression. Children need to learn healthy ways to cope with sadness, anger and fear. Parents can help them brainstorm ways to cope with their emotions, such as playing outside with friends, stepping away from a situation and writing in a journal. Parents should also teach their children healthy eating patterns. They should encourage their children to eat healthy foods and set an eating schedule, so their children eat their meals at the same time each day.
