Kartini Clinic for Children and Families

Pediatric Eating Disorder Treatment Program

Get Help Now:
971-319-6800
  • Eating Disorder Treatment
    • Anorexia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Anorexia
      • Causes and Triggers: Anorexia
      • Treatment: Anorexia
    • Bulimia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Bulimia
      • Causes and Triggers: Bulimia
      • Treatment: Bulimia
    • Food Phobia
      • Signs & Symptoms: Food Phobia
      • Causes and Triggers: Food Phobia
      • Treatment: Food Phobia
    • ARFID
    • Treatment Overview
      • Inpatient
      • Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
      • Intensive Outpatient (IOP)
      • Virtual Intensive Outpatient (VIOP)
      • Outpatient
      • Cost of Treatment
  • Eating Disorder Resources
    • For Referring Providers
      • Hospitalization Criteria
      • Direct Referrals
    • Kartini School
    • For Parents & Guardians
      • Top Tips for Parents
      • Understanding Your Insurance
      • Talking to Your Employer
      • Insurance FAQ
      • Mental Health Parity Law
      • Family Housing Information
      • School During Treatment
      • Give Food a Chance
    • Research & Resources
    • Eating Disorder Treatment Videos
    • Glossary of Eating Disorder Terms
  • About Kartini Clinic
    • Why Kartini is Different
    • Will Treatment Work?
    • Our Staff
      • Julie O’Toole MD MPH
      • Naghmeh Moshtael MD
      • Shanna Greene
      • Morgan O’Toole
      • Megan Maples
      • Sherrill Gandsey RN
      • Leslie Weisner LMFT
      • Steve Nemirow
      • Amy Stauffer
      • Alex Garcia MA
      • Lisa Peacock LMFT
    • Contact Us
    • Careers at Kartini
  • Blog
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

Worried About Your Child’s Relationship To Food? Five Things You Should Know

June 29, 2017 by Julie O'Toole

girl hand five

1) Weight loss in children isn’t normal

Imagine you’re a parent of a bright, active 12 year old boy. He gets good grades and has lots of friends. He excels at sports. Then something changes; he begins to lose weight. At his last checkup his pediatrician registers a heart rate in the low 50s. He starts to withdraw, not doing many things he used to enjoy, with the exception of exercise. He now exercises with a new intensity.

His doctor tells you not to worry. “It’s just a stage”, she says. “Don’t make a big deal out if it, or you might make it worse. He has weight loss and a low heart rate because he’s an athlete.” But you have the nagging feeling that something’s wrong. What do you do?

For nearly two decades Kartini Clinic’s internationally recognized team of pediatricians and therapists has diagnosed and treated more than 3000 children from across the country and all walks of life. And we have seen presentations like the one described above hundreds of times.

Our message is always the same: weight loss in children is not normal and should be investigated immediately.

And weight loss shouldn’t be the only concern. Because children are still growing they need to gain weight. An interruption in their past rates of growth and development is a sign of potential trouble ahead. Your child’s growth chart is a critical diagnostic tool that can provide early warnings. Always review your child’s growth chart with their doctor and remember that averages don’t apply to individuals. What matters most for your child’s health should be based on their unique biology.

2) Children are not small adults

In the example above, with a daytime heart rate in the low 50s, this child’s overnight heart rate could be in the 40s. This is dangerous territory for a child. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ hospitalization guidelines recommend admission with a nighttime heart rate below 45, regardless of athleticism. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because Usain Bolt has a resting heart rate in the 40s, it’s OK for your child to do so.

Childhood is an essential period of growth and development, a time when critical biological systems form. Weight loss – or simply a failure to grow and develop normally – could signal a dangerous disruption to these processes.

3) Parents don’t cause eating disorders (and children don’t choose to have them)

This is our motto, and something we make clear to all families from day one. The scientific evidence is unambiguous. Parents don’t cause a child’s eating disorder, any more than they cause Type 1 diabetes or autism. These are both understood to be genetically inherited illnesses. So are eating disorders.

4) Eating disorders are brain disorders and run in families

How do we know this? Decades of research using twins separated at birth has firmly established the heritability of anorexia nervosa (the most thoroughly studied eating disorder) between 50% and 70%. By comparison, heritability of height is about 90%. This means your height is 90% dependent on your parents’ height. The other 10% comes from environment. Equally, anorexia’s high heritability rate implies that it’s largely a biological brain disease, passed from parent to child, but with a significant environmental component. But like many complex illnesses, we don’t yet know enough about what environmental “triggers” lead some who are genetically vulnerable to become ill.

5) If you think something’s wrong, get help

We always tell parents, ‘you are the experts in your child.’ If you think something’s wrong, don’t let your concerns be ignored, even by your pediatrician. Our colleagues in primary care are in a tough position; they don’t want to overreact. Furthermore, eating disorders are thankfully quite rare. However, most doctors don’t have training in diagnosing or treating them. But they do happen, especially to genetically predisposed children. It’s therefore critical to understand the specific risk to your child. A pediatric specialist’s evaluation is the best way to rule out an eating disorder.

 

Kartini Clinic is an internationally recognized pediatric eating disorder treatment program based in Portland, Oregon. Since 1998, we have treated more than 3,000 children and young adults with all forms of disordered eating. We take a evidence-based, medical approach to the treatment of eating disorders. And treating children is all that we do.

To learn about treatment options at Kartini Clinic, call out intake coordinator at 971-319-6800.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Recent Blog Posts

Are social media platforms making eating disorders in children worse?

January 10, 2023 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

School During Eating Disorder Treatment? Not To Worry

October 13, 2022 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

Online Reviews

September 23, 2021 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

Spotting the Tiger: Identifying Early Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Children for Timely Intervention

May 8, 2023 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

New to Treatment? Don’t Panic!

February 10, 2022 By Julie O'Toole

Kartini School: A Success Story

February 9, 2022 By Morgan O'Toole-Smith

  • Eating Disorder Treatment
    • Anorexia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Anorexia
      • Causes and Triggers: Anorexia
      • Treatment: Anorexia
    • Bulimia Nervosa
      • Signs & Symptoms: Bulimia
      • Causes and Triggers: Bulimia
      • Treatment: Bulimia
    • Food Phobia
      • Signs & Symptoms: Food Phobia
      • Causes and Triggers: Food Phobia
      • Treatment: Food Phobia
    • ARFID
    • Treatment Overview
      • Inpatient
      • Partial Hospitalization (PHP)
      • Virtual Intensive Outpatient (VIOP)
      • Intensive Outpatient (IOP)
      • Outpatient
      • Cost of Treatment
  • Eating Disorder Resources
    • For Referring Providers
      • Hospitalization Criteria
      • Direct Referrals
    • For Parents & Guardians
      • Top Tips for Parents
      • Understanding Your Insurance
      • Talking to Your Employer
      • Insurance FAQ
      • Mental Health Parity Law
      • Family Housing Information
      • School During Treatment
      • Give Food a Chance
    • Kartini School
    • Research & Resources
    • Treatment Videos
    • Glossary of Eating Disorder Terms
  • About Kartini Clinic
    • Why Kartini is Different
    • Will Treatment Work?
    • Our Staff
    • Contact Us
    • Careers at Kartini

TEST SEARCH

How to Recognize Eating Disorders in Boys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVgVmDIXqHc

Request Information

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

From Our Blog

Online Reviews

Are social media platforms making eating disorders in children worse?

January 10, 2023

At least one school district in Seattle thinks so. Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has filed a suit in US DIstrict Court alleging that “defendants [social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat] affirmatively recommend and promote harmful content to youth, such as … Read Post...

School During Eating Disorder Treatment? Not To Worry

October 13, 2022

During the school year, families are sometimes hesitant to have their child enter treatment in the Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) because they are worried about time away from school. The teachers at Kartini School understand your concern.  Often, our patients are super-conscientious … Read Post...

Online Reviews

September 23, 2021

This post is from Kartini Clinic CEO Morgan O'Toole.  Online reviews have become part of our everyday lives. Who hasn’t glanced at the star ratings when Googling a new hair salon or looking for a restaurant to try out? Most of the time, online reviews are just another useful data point when … Read Post...

Spotting the Tiger: Identifying Early Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Children for Timely Intervention

May 8, 2023

In the powerful documentary, "Spotting the Tiger," narrated by Oscar Award Winner Jamie Lee Curtis, the film emphasizes the importance of recognizing early warning signs of eating disorders in children. As we commemorate its 15th anniversary, the core message of this film remains just as relevant … Read Post...

Call UsEmail Us

The Kartini Clinic Difference

At Kartini Clinic we practice only evidence-based, family-centered eating disorder treatment. Our program is a multi-disciplinary medical and psychiatric treatment model rather than an exclusively psychiatric approach to eating disorder treatment.  read more »

Eating Disorder Quick Links

Anorexia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa
Eating Disorder Treatment

Resource Quick Links

Referring Providers
Parent Resources
Understanding Insurance

Contact Us

Tel: (971) 319-6800
Fax: (503) 282-3409

help@kartiniclinic.com

3530 N Vancouver, Suite 400
Portland, OR 97227

Find us on Google Maps

Mon – Fri 9:00am – 5:00pm

Copyright © 2023 · Kartini Clinic · All Rights Reserved