I was most celebrated by the medical community when I was the sickest with an eating disorder. My weight loss story was even featured on a popular doctor’s TV show.
However, it’s a narrative many of us share.
In recent years, I’ve encountered other accounts of people developing eating disorders after their healthcare provider pressured them to lose weight.
“Medically induced eating disorders” is a generalized phrase I’ve come up with to describe when doctors are so zealous about weight loss, ideal blood pressures, low cholesterol and blood sugars—that they use fear-mongering tactics in order to persuade their patients into compliance—followed by excessive praise when goals are met.
All the while, completely ignoring the adverse effects the subtle and not-so-subtle coercion may be having on their patients.
These same providers have no clue their overweight patients may be suffering from serious and life-threatening eating disorders such as anorexia (yes, even an overweight individual could be suffering from anorexia); or binge eating; or binge eating with purging via vomiting or over-exercising; chronic restrictive eating; chronic fasting; or overuse of laxatives in order not to be scolded at office visits.
Fear causes people to do irrational and dangerous things to their bodies; causing irreparable damage.
Research suggests that some people stay away from doctors altogether in order to avoid the demoralizing shame of weight stigma. (Discrimination and stereotyping against individuals based on their body weight.)
I encourage all healthcare providers, parents, and teachers to watch Dying in Plain Sight.
Bottom line, in your quest for weight loss, tread carefully.
When insufficient amounts of carbohydrates are consumed due to chronic undereating, a hormone in the brain (neuropeptide Y) remains consistently elevated.
In a person who’s never dieted to lose weight, this hormone will go down after eating.
But in an individual who goes on and off diets to lose weight—this hormone doesn’t go down—and the elevated hormone increases the likelihood of binge eating.
And binge eating opens a whole can of worms; everything from fasting, vomiting, over-exercising, and misusing laxatives to rapid weight gains and yo-yo weight cycling.
Bottom line, if your physician, or your child’s pediatrician has very little training in the field of eating disorders—yet pressures you or your child to lose weight—find another doctor.
Eating disorders can be life-threatening if unaware of their dangers.
There’s so much more to health than a number on the scale.
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Emily Boller, wife, mother, artist, and author is on a mission to create expressive works of art in her lifetime; and to bring awareness to the potentially harmful traps of diet-wellness culture. In her free time, she loves to chase sunrises, grow flowers and vegetables, and can homemade soups.