Author Question: Why are eating disorders in infants and young children often considered symptomatic of a problem in ... (Read 62 times)

DelorasTo · **on:** Jun 22, 2018

Why are eating disorders in infants and young children often considered symptomatic of a problem in the motherchild relationship?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss three risks that are associated with infant and early childhood feeding disorders.

What will be an ideal response?

CharlieArnold · **Reply #1 on:** Jun 22, 2018

Answer to Question 1

A prominent controversy concerns the significance of emotional deprivation (lack of love) and malnutrition (lack of food), especially for failure to thrive. Investigators have argued that the infant with FTT, for example, has been deprived of maternal stimulation and love, which results in emotional misery, developmental delays, and eventually, physiological changes. In one study, mothers of infants diagnosed with FTT were found to be more insecurely attached than mothers of normal infants. These mothers also were more passive and confused and either became intensely angry when discussing past and current attachment relationships or dismissed the attachments as unimportant and non-influential (Benoit, Zeanah, & Barton, 1989). Children who have suffered from FTT as a result of early abuse exhibit poorer outcomes 20 years later than children whose failure to thrive resulted from neglect, lack of parenting, or feeding difficulties (Iwaniec, Sheddon, & Allen, 2003).

Answer to Question 2

Drive for thinness is a key motivational variable that underlies dieting and body image, among young females in particular, whereby the individual believes that losing more weight is the answer to overcoming her troubles and to achieving success (Philipsen & Brooks-Gunn, 2008). However, such behavior creates the negative side effects of weight preoccupation, concern with appearance, and restrained eating, which increase the risk of an eating disorder (Touyz, Polivy, & Hay, 2008). Disturbed eating attitudes describe a person's belief that cultural standards for attractiveness, body image, and social acceptance are closely tied to one's ability to control diet and weight gain.