School Setting: Eating Disorders Handout for Parents and Caregivers

School Setting: Eating Disorders Handout for Parents and Caregivers 

Eating disorders are complex illnesses impacted by genetic, biological, psychological and socio-cultural factors. An eating disorder is characterised by abnormal eating and/or exercise behaviours and a preoccupation with body weight or shape. Eating disorders are not a lifestyle choice, a diet gone wrong or a cry for attention. Eating disorders can take many different forms and interfere with a person’s day to day life.  

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) recognises four eating disorders: 

• Anorexia Nervosa  

• Bulimia Nervosa  

• Binge Eating Disorder  

• Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders.   

  Research is yet to identify a single cause explaining why some people develop an eating disorder. It is much more likely that some people have personal characteristics that make them vulnerable to developing an eating disorder and that the experience of specific life events then trigger the onset of illness. Once the illness is triggered, the resulting changes in thinking can act to maintain the disorder.