This is an excerpt from my upcoming book Give Food A Chance (to be published this summer by PSI Press) taken from a chapter about parents, their essential roles in recognizing symptoms of eating disorders such as anorexia, as in obtaining timely treatment for their child.  It is written partially as a plea to other medical doctors to listen to parents, and also partially to encourage parents to continue to advocate for their children in their time of need.

“Even though the literature on eating disorders is replete with stories of ‘parents in denial,’ it has been our experience that parents generally do a better job than we doctors at recognizing that ‘something is wrong’ with their child. Perhaps we should not be surprised. Parents are the experts on their own children and, with very few exceptions, should be treated as such. Anorexia nervosa is a life- and health-threatening condition, and parents who have grounds to feel something is not right should not be made to feel invasive if they look through their children’s rooms or bathrooms for evidence of vomiting, food hoarding, diet pills, syrup of ipecac (which “novices” use to induce vomiting), or laxatives. I do advise parents to have a word with themselves before any such search, however, and if they ?nd love letters from unsuitable admirers, condoms, homework assignments with bad grades, and so forth, not to use this search as a springboard to confront their child with
everything they disapprove of. Stick to the life-threatening stuff. Deal with the rest later.

Physicians, if a parent insists that their child’s weight loss is a problem, please do not brush them off. Take a history. Be sure of your diagnosis. A young doctor who ignores the concerns of mothers or grandmothers is foolish; an older doctor who does so is just a plain fool.”