Parents urged to be on watch for eating disorders amid virus crisis

AMMAN — Eating disorders have spread rapidly in Jordan, mostly among teenagers especially after the pandemic, according to experts.

Reasons for eating disorders vary but they are mostly genetic being organic hormonal defects, said Mohammad Abu Halimeh, a psychiatrist and addiction therapist.

“Upbringing is a great factor, for example it was observed that females raised by separate parents are more likely to develop an eating disorder. Sometimes bullying and harassment whether it’s sexual, physical or verbal can play a role in causing eating disorders too. Psychologically, eating disorders could be a part of a personality disorder such as borderline personality disorder,” Abu Halimeh told The Jordan Times.

According to Rania Atallah, a mental health professional, there is no specific cause for eating disorders, and each case can have different factors.

“The real debate is: Is it nature or nurture? I don’t think anyone can really answer the question because every person is different,” Atallah, told The Jordan Times.

There aren’t any national studies done on eating disorders to know the exact percentage of people who suffer from them in Jordan, according to experts.

“Eating disorders are very common in Jordan, yet many people do not seek help, mostly because they do not know they have an eating disorder. About 0.5 per cent actually visit a psychiatrist about an eating disorder while the real percentage exceed 20 per cent of the population,” Abu Halimeh added.

The pandemic has affected mental health and wellness negatively. Some people had an intensification of their symptoms while others adopted new ones, and lots of people realised they have an eating disorder or developed it because of the pandemic, said Atallah.

“The number of patients I used to receive in a week before the pandemic, I now receive in a single day. I believe we are having a mental health crisis,” Atallah noted. 

Women are more prone to develop eating disorders for many reasons, largely because of the pressures they face regarding their physical appearance, according to experts. 

“In many cases, women have negative emotions regarding their bodies because they’re under pressure to be skinny and look ‘beautiful’. That is why parents should work on body positivity from early childhood. Mothers should be more careful not to talk or behave negatively about weight, so their children would not acquire that behaviour. Parents should work on enriching their children’s self-esteem, especially girls, and make sure not to compare their children with each other or with anyone else,” nutritionist Dima Kilani told The Jordan Times.

However, men are not in a safe haven either. 

“Recently, men have showed more anorexic behaviour than before, due to the new beauty standards set for men and the rise in men modelling. The anorexia and bulimia rate among men went from 1-10 to 3-10,” Abu Halimeh said.

There is a difference between eating habits and eating disorders. Eating habits can be bad or good, either way they would not affect the person’s life negatively. On the other hand, an eating disorder affects the person’s life negatively: Socially, functionally, physically and mentally, according to experts.

“Eating disorders are a purely psychological problem that is out of a person’s control,” Kilani said.

Some of the important warning signs of having an eating disorder is when a person cares too much about their body image and their weight and they keep talking about it, counting calories excessively and skipping meals all too often, Kilani noted.

“There are psychological signs too, as people who have eating disorders tend to be shy and isolated,” Kilani added.

Symptoms differ from one eating disorder to another, Atallah said.

“For instance Bulimia nervosa might be accompanied by bruises near the knuckles. Anorexia on the other hand can cause a loss of menstrual cycle and drastic weight loss. Eating disorders also are generally associated with fluctuations in weight. Nevertheless, eating disorders can only be properly diagnosed by a mental health professional,” Atallah said.

Eating disorders develop mostly in early teenage when a person is 12-13 years old, which is termed “the golden age” for eating disorders, according to Abu Halimeh.

“Parents should watch the behaviour of their children and seek help from professionals as early as possible, because the earlier the diagnosis the better the results,” Abu Halimeh noted.

Abu Halimeh stressed the importance of raising awareness through campaigns, media, lectures and seminars, shedding light on eating disorders.

“Sometimes eating disorders could lead to suicide when they’re accompanied with other psychological problems,” Atallah said.