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Toddlers With Eating Disorders

Toddlers With Eating Disorders: A Troubling New Trend

Do I look fat? Obsessing over body image and calories to the point of disordered eating is an affliction most commonly associated with young women and the glare of Hollywood, not with the sweet young things running around the playground. Sadly though, there's a disturbing trend that's seeing younger and younger children being treated for serious eating disorders. Reporting on the results of a new study on eating disorders — which shockingly included two 6-year-olds, four 7-year-olds, and even a tot as young as 3 in treatment — doctors say that statistics like this are likely just the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the number of preteens actually suffering from debilitating conditions like anorexia and bulimia. Though it's nearly impossible to pinpoint one cause, doctors did say that "the pressure put on young people to conform to a certain body image could be blamed on a large number of eating disorders."

We've been hearing a lot about the childhood obesity epidemic lately, but not so much about the other end of the spectrum. Are you concerned about tots developing disordered eating?

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