Expert: Joanne - 8/16/2008

Question
Hi,

My name is Zach Edwards and i'm 13 years old.
I started to worry about anorexia when my Gran said that I look anorexic. I am 5ft 4 and weigh about 8 stone which I thought was normal but my gran thought otherwise. I do relise that I am kind of skinny and my friends notice it as well. I dont eat well but that is hard as i am a vegetarian. I eat a lot of vegetables but hardly anything else. I drink plenty of fluids though. I am worried about how skinny I am around my shoulders and hips.

Please Reply

Zach

Answer
Zach

Anorexia is much more than the way you look!  Many people may look 'anorexic' in the eyes of others, but believe me when I say that there is a difference between looking and being anorexic.

Anorexia is a psychiatric illness which basically involves someone restricting their food intake on purpose in order to become thin to help them deal with issues that are actually emotional rather than physical.

As you don't seem to be intentionally avoiding taking in calories, I would think that you are maybe just not following a great daily diet rather than anorexic.  If you think that you are underweight, it may be worth getting some advice from your Doctor or ask to be referred to a nutritionist in order to make sure that your diet is giving you everything that you need.  Vegetarian diets can occasionally be lacking, so it is worth checking out that your diet has enough in it.  

Ways you could gain weight would be to increase your daily calorie intake.  Add cheese and cream to meals as you can, or try to increase protein where you can (in vegetarian form obviously!) and begin to exercise a bit, but not cardiovascular as this encourages weight loss, so should only be done in order to prepare for other exercise.

At 13 though, I don't think that you should be getting to worried about this yet!  If it is having ill effects on your health, then yes definitely think about this, but otherwise, I would try to forget about it for the meantime.  There is a chance that as you get a bit older, your body will develop into a more defined body.  Getting too wrapped up in these sorts of issues without medical need to is just causing you problems for the future, especially if you begin to obsess about it.

I think you should focus on whether you feel healthy and have enough energy, and explain to your gran that you are not anorexic, but are attempting to improve your diet!

Good luck, and please get back in touch if you have anything else to ask.

Joanne