When eating is an issue, this expert steps in

Roxanne Rockwell helps teens struggling with various eating disorders

   Dr. Roxanne Rockwell is Program Manager of the UCSD Adolescent Eating Disorders Service.

Making healthy food choices is something with which many people struggle.

But there are some — especially teens — who have such a difficult time that it can sometimes develop into an eating disorder.

That’s where Roxanne Rockwell steps in.

She’s the Program Manager at UC San Diego’s Adolescent Eating Disorders Treatment and Research Program, a place that helps young people overcome their issues with food and eating.

Rockwell, 34, was raised in Burbank and moved to San Diego in 1997 to attend San Diego State University. She’s spent most of her career researching the illness and working with patients.

The San Elijo Hills resident and mother of two boys explains why eating disorders should be taken seriously.

Q: Why do eating disorders happen?

A: Despite a common misconception, they are not illnesses of choice. The etiology of eating disorders is complex and influenced by biological, developmental and social processes. People who develop anorexia and bulimia tend to have certain temperament or personality traits: anxiety, inhibition, obsessionality and perfectionism.

Q: Why is this a serious problem?

A: Anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are often chronic and relapsing illnesses. A significant proportion of people with AN show an unremitting course, leading to a 5 to 10 percent mortality rate due to complications of the disease or from suicide. Bulimia tends to have lower death rates, although patients are at increased risk of suicide and vulnerable to a variety of other medical complications.

Q: What kinds of breakthroughs have you discovered?

A: Parents, typically mothers, were often blamed for causing the illness and we now know this to be completely false.

Q: Please tell us about your facility.

A: Our family-based adolescent program is focused on educating parents on everything they need to know to manage the illness in their home. Parents are part of the solution, and we work collaboratively with the family to identify what’s going to work with their child. Our program attracts teens and families with anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia (preoccupation with food), and obsessions about food, eating, weight and exercise. We also have a pediatric program for kids age 7 to 13, a transitional program for young adults ages 17 to 23, and an adult program for 18 and over.

Q: What is a common misconception about people with eating disorders?

A: That one can tell whether or not someone has one by looking at them. This is false. It is impossible to tell if someone has an eating disorder by looking at their outside appearance only. People with eating disorders can be normal weight, overweight, and underweight. In fact, eating disorders are less about the number on the scale and more about the obsessive and rigid rules around food, weight, eating shape and exercise. People with eating disorders go unnoticed all the time because they don’t meet the emaciated stereotype.

Q: How should parents treat the subject of food around their kids?

A: This is such a controversial topic with so much focus on obesity and eating “healthy.” But from an eating disorder perspective, all foods are good foods in moderation. The patients we see have often assigned moral judgments to food such as “good” and “bad.” For patients with eating disorders this type of thinking can lead to extreme restriction or a cycle of eating “healthy” followed by binge eating on the foods in the “bad” category. Parents should model flexibility with a variety of foods and avoid rigidity and judgment around what people “should” or “should not” eat.

Q: Why did you get into this line of work? Do you have a personal connection?