Mothers With Eating Disorders
Posted on: March 9th, 2018
Deciding whether or not to have children can be difficult, but for women with eating disorders there are many physical and psychological issues that make the decision to start a family even more challenging.
Getting pregnant can be a lengthy, frustrating process, because eating disorders impair fertility. Those with anorexia (and typically underweight) have a particularly hard time, because the menstrual cycle is often disrupted. However, even women with bulimia in a normal body mass range experience irregular menstruation. Most healthy women trying to conceive will become pregnant within between three and six months with 90% succeeding after twelve months. Women with eating disorders are often well outside this time frame, sometimes taking as long as three years to become pregnant.
The growth rate of babies born to mothers with eating disorders is often negatively impacted. While there are generally many factors that impact growth rate, research shows a correlation between underweight babies and anorexic mothers, and overweight babies and mothers with binge eating disorder. It’s reasonable to conclude that mothers restricting food or eating too much food themselves will do the same, to some degree, with their babies.
Studies show that once children reach the age of two to three mothers with eating disorders start to become preoccupied with their child’s eating, shape and weight, and the child’s feeding routine starts to become a real source of anxiety. These feelings have a tendency to be more intense with regard to daughters. And the child, even at this young age, is already becoming aware of their mother’s most basic eating disorder symptoms.
As children grow older, the seriousness of their mother’s eating disorder begins to sink in. Sooner or later the symptoms reveal themselves. Some of these include: preoccupation with or disinterest in food, extreme portion sizes (either too much or too little), infrequency of family meals, an abundance of empty food packages following a binge, etc. Then there is the obvious toll eating disorders take on the body and mind of the victim such as fatigue and emotional unavailability, isolation from family and friends, extreme weight loss or gain.
One of the most unfortunate realities about eating disorders is that the children of sufferers are at a higher risk of developing eating disorders themselves, so the stakes are high to stop the family cycle. It’s crucial to seek treatment immediately and begin the path to recovery.
If you or someone you love has an eating disorder contact Maureen Kritzer-Lange Psychotherapy. Email: info@maureenkritzerlange.com or phone: 973-313-1691.
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