In the next few blogs I am going to excerpt a few relevant parts from my upcoming book about eating disorder treatment called Give Food A Chance, to be published this year by PSI Press.  Once the book becomes available, we will notify readers of my blog where it can be purchased.

This excerpt deals with “weight redistribution” or the shifting of weight in patients with anorexia who have become weight restored during their eating disorder treatment:

One of the more distressing things about weight gain following semi-starvation due to anorexia is the distribution of fat that follows. 

We confront this issue directly in the outpatient clinic; there is no point trying to hide from the elephant in the room: The human body stores initial weight gain around the face and stomach. Some children may appear to be “chubby” to their parents once they reach their weight goal. Of course they are not “chubby,” but at this point it is essential to continue the frank discussion (begun in the DTU) about weight redistribution.

We do not know why it happens or understand the mechanism involved, but we have consistently observed that the extra weight gained initially around the face and stomach will redistribute over time. How soon? Boy, would I be popular if I could accurately predict that! It usually takes several months to happen, but when it does, it is fairly sudden and rather dramatic.

In the outpatient clinic I sometimes think a child has lost weight, but when I check their chart, I see that this is not so; the puffiness and extra fat has merely “left the face” with the tummy to follow. Really. The kids are very pleased, the parents are relieved, and the doctors are happy, too.

Excerpted from “Give Food a Chance,” PSI Press, 2010 (anticipated). All rights reserved.