An intense fear of gaining weight is driving many children and adolescents to near-starvation, doctors said at a conference on child and adolescent psychiatry.
The obsession with looking thin is partly attributed to the phenomenal rise in the popularity of Korean pop culture.
“A lot of children and adolescents are obsessed with Korean pop culture. The K-Pop idols are very thin. The children also want to be like that and start avoiding food. Often, taunts from the peer group for gaining weight can have dangerous effects. Eating disorders are more common in girls but seen in both genders,” said Praveen Kumar, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and head of the department of psychiatry at the Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata (I-NK), the host of Sunday’s conference.
“They start looking up on the Internet for fat and carb content in daily food. They stop taking carbs and fat. It leads to significant weight loss. If their weight drops below the body-mass index, it can lead to metabolic complications. Their bone mineral density comes down. The menstrual cycle of girls can get affected. It can cause other gynaecological problems.”
The conference was inaugurated by women and child development and social welfare minister Shashi Panja. At one of the sessions, speakers talked of a “rise in the prevalence” of eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa.
“Anorexia nervosa — often simply called anorexia — is an eating disorder characterised by abnormally low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of weight. People with anorexia place a high value on controlling their weight and shape, using extreme efforts that tend to significantly interfere with their lives,” says the Mayo Clinic website.
Vinayak Koparde, a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Belgaum, Karnataka, and one of the speakers on Sunday, shared with The Telegraph examples of some “extreme efforts”.
“Adolescent patients are using laxatives to clear their bowels of any remnant of food. Some put their fingers into their throat until they start vomiting. Such is the level of desperation to look thin. Children and adolescents suffering from anorexia nervosa have a distorted perception of self. A phobia of getting fat drives them to the edge,” he told said.
Doctors said the help of a mental health expert is needed in such cases.
“The patients suffer silently. They do not get routine attention. Usually, they don't know where to seek help. They go to a paediatrician or a general medicine specialist. They suspect some medical problem, may be a gastroenteric cause. It takes a long time to get to the psychological reason,” said Kumar.
The I-NK is coming up with a dedicated eating disorder clinic. The clinic will have a psychiatrist, psychologist, nutritionist, endocrinologist and a paediatrician, said an official.