Food Fight: A Guide to Eating Disorders for Preteens and Their Parents - Softcover

Bode, Janet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689810865 ISBN 13: 9780689810862

Publisher: Aladdin, 1998

Synopsis

"Do you think I'm too fat?"

Maybe you know someone who thinks she needs to lose a few pounds. And then a few more. Maybe she exercises until she's exhausted. Being skinny makes her feel great. Or maybe you know someone who eats in secret and just can't stop. She eats. And eats. And eats. And then she throws up. Maybe she hates her body. Maybe she hates herself.

This might sound like someone you know -- or it might sound like you. If so, you could have an eating disorder. Left untreated, eating disorders can cause serious health problems and may even result in death.

Here, in their own words, are the stories of preteens suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Noted author Janet Bode describes symptoms, causes, and ways to deal with these illnesses and includes a resource guide for where to turn for help. This is a book for young people, their parents, their teachers, and other concerned adults. It's a book that can help children and their families survive.

About this title

About the Author

Janet Bode is the author of more than a dozen books for teenagers and adults. Many of her books have been selected as ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age. A frequent speaker in schools, libraries, conferences, and on radio and television, she lives in New York City. Of Food Fight she says:

"When an editor asked me to write a book for eight- to twelve-year-olds about eating disorders, I first said, 'Eating disorders don't touch the lives of kids that young.' But then I started thinking, what if I'm wrong? How could I pass up the chance to help people deal with a problem before it becomes a life-and-death issue?

"I called and e-mailed counselors, librarians, and doctors around the country. Their collective opinion? Such a book was needed. Then, as always, I turned to my real experts: adolescents themselves. In a room filled with seventh graders, students began to talk about their concerns with coming of age in a troubling time and their insecurity about the shape of their bodies. One girl said it all: 'The pain feels like a thousand paper cuts. Write the book.' So I did."

Reviews

"Examining in depth how eating disorders begin," said PW, "this extensively researched, clearly written book offers supportive and constructive advice about how to break those patterns." Ages 8-12. (Oct.)r
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1: Heavy Meanings

Defining Moments

Eating disorders are mind-body problems. They occur when individuals reduce complicated lives to one issue: reducing their weight.

People may try to starve themselves, a condition called anorexia nervosa. They may binge and purge, uncontrollably overeating and then ridding their bodies of the food, a condition called bulimia nervosa. Or they may combine these two methods to lose weight, going back and forth between them.

Until recently most of those who developed anorexia and bulimia were in their teens or early twenties. Now the age when the behavior first starts can be even younger. Your age.

Although boys have been known to have eating disorders, experts say that 85 percent to 90 percent of those they see are female. That's why this book is aimed more at girls than boys. That's why the words "she" and "her" will appear more often than "he" and "him."

Regardless of the gender, each person with an eating disorder is unique. Still they share certain characteristics. As they become increasingly focused on food and eating, their behavior falls into certain patterns....

Copyright© 1997 by Janet Bode

Edition details

• Publisher: Aladdin
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689810865
• ISBN 13: 9780689810862
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160