New guidelines aimed at catching eating disorders faster
With eating disorders on the rise, officials want to catch cases earlier.
The Canadian Paediatric Society released new guidelines urging primary-care providers to screen all adolescent patients during routine checkups.
"The sooner you identify an eating disorder and put interventions in place, the better the outcomes are," said Dr. Holly Agostino, who co-authored the new guidelines.
Agostino is an adolescent medicine specialist and the eating disorder program director at the Montreal Children's Hospital.
"It's really about just asking one or two questions around body image. Trying to identify if there's been any change in their weight and why that might be the case. Any behaviours around food or exercise that have changed," said Agostino.
The guidelines are welcome news for Eating Disorders Nova Scotia, which offers peer support programs, workshops, and clinical services.
"Through my own experience with an eating disorder, if my family doctor had been able to kind of look at me and ask me some questions much earlier on, I know that my own recovery path would have been a lot shorter," said Shaleen Jones, Eating Disorders Nova Scotia's executive director.
Jones is also the founder of Body Peace Canada, which is a free online resource for anyone over the age of 14 who's dealing with an eating disorder or has concerns about their relationship with food, exercise, or their body.
Cases skyrocketed during the pandemic, as did referrals to the IWK Health Eating Disorders Clinic. One of the most common diagnoses at that clinic is anorexia nervosa.
"The gold standard of treatment for that condition in youth especially is something called 'FBT' or family-based treatment, which is psychotherapy, kind of talk-based therapy treatment that involves regular meetings," said Dr. Chelcie Soroka, IWK Health Eating Disorders Clinic psychiatry lead.
Soroka said the initial goal is weight restoration and nutritional rehabilitation, and then eventually normalizing the relationship the young person has with food. The majority of patients the clinic sees are people between the ages of 13 to 17, though there are younger ones too.
"Often, one of the common concerns we have from parents when we are completing assessments for young people is that they didn't know or they didn't realize," said Soroka.
"They thought it made sense their young person wanted to focus on eating healthy, or getting healthier, being more fit and active. I think all of that is great and good, but in moderation."
The Canadian Paediatric Society said parents should seek medical assistance if their teen:
- has a significant and unexplained weight change
- fails to reach an expected height or weight on their growth curves
- is showing delays in puberty
- has serious body image concerns, including a strong desire for weight loss or fear of weight gain
- has restrictive eating patterns
- exercises obsessively
"We're certainly seeing younger folks diagnosed with an eating disorder. More boys, more folks from the trans and non-binary community being diagnosed with an eating disorder, so it really impacts across all backgrounds," said Jones.
The hope with these new guidelines is youth will get the help they need sooner.
"Family practitioners, nurse practitioners, community paediatricians, they have such a great alliance with these families already, so they're really well-positioned to build that rapport, build that trust with the families, and get the ball rolling already," said Agostino.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
LIVE UPDATES Multiple homes, businesses 'lost' to wildfire in Jasper National Park: Parks Canada
Officials from Parks Canada and Jasper say "multiple structures, including a number of businesses and homes, in and around the town of Jasper, have been lost" to wildfire in Jasper National Park.
Alberta premier says a third, perhaps half, of all Jasper buildings destroyed by fire
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says early reports indicate a third and perhaps up to half of all buildings in the historic Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper have burned in a wildfire.
Prince William's 2023 salary revealed in new report
Newly released financial reports show that William, the Prince of Wales, drew a salary of $42.1 million last fiscal year, his first since inheriting the vast and lucrative Duchy of Cornwall.
Tourist suffers 3rd-degree burns to feet after losing flip flops amid soaring temperatures in Death Valley
A tourist was hospitalized after suffering serious burns on his feet on Saturday when he lost his flip flops at a U.S. national park where temperatures soared past 48 Celsius.
'There's mom and dad's house': New video appears to show destruction of Jasper neighbourhood
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
Former judge with disputed Cree heritage likely has Indigenous DNA: law society
The Law Society of British Columbia says a DNA test shows a former judge and Order of Canada recipient accused of falsely claiming to be Cree "most likely" has Indigenous heritage.
Australian field hockey player opts to amputate part of his finger in order to compete in Paris Olympics
In the run up to the Paris Olympics, athletes have been stepping up their preparations in order to maintain their edge over competitors. But for Australia’s Matt Dawson, those preparations looked a little different this year, with the field hockey player opting to have part of his finger amputated in order to compete in the Games.
Canada to bring home fewest Olympic medals since 2012, according to forecaster
Fewer Canadians are expected to reach the Paris podium than in the previous two Olympic Summer Games, a global data analytics company predicts.
Jennifer Aniston criticizes JD Vance for 'childless cat ladies' remarks: 'I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children'
Jennifer Aniston is criticizing JD Vance for comments he made in his past about women without children.