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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A warning for parents of children with eating disorders: the Internet may be promoting their dangerous behaviors.
Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine in Palo Alto, Calif., surveyed eating disorder patients and their families. They found 41 percent of patients visited Web sites designed to help patients (pro-recovery sites), 35.5 percent visited pro-eating disorder sites, and 25 percent visited both. Additionally, 96 percent of those who visited pro-eating disorder web sites told researchers they learned new ways to diet and purge. But 46.4 percent of those who visited pro-recovery sites also learned new techniques.
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The study shows patients who visited the pro-eating disorder Web sites spent less time on schoolwork and had their disease longer. Researchers report about half of parents did not know their child had visited these sites, and only 27.6 percent had discussed the Web sites with their child.
Another study from Stanford reveals younger eating disorder patients may be at risk to lose weight much faster than adolescents. And because some of the typical warning signs in adult patients -- like missed periods -- don't apply to pre-teens, it can be harder to diagnose their disease.
The investigators wrote it can be hard to tell whether young children have the same kind of disordered body image as older patients, who often see themselves as "fat."
"Young kids may truly not know why they don't want to eat," reports study author Rebecka Peebles, M.D., from Stanford University Medical Center. "They just don't want to be bigger."
Other surprising results include younger patients with disordered eating are more likely to be male than those older than 13. And one in five patients younger than 13 has tried vomiting as a way to lose weight.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: PEDIATRICS, 2006;118:1635-1643; Journal of Adolescent Health, 2006;39:800-805
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