Family Doctor Health Advisor
Children: Babies under one
Sleeping problems in babies | Excessive crying | Fever in babies | Vomiting in babies | Diarrhoea in babies | Feeding problems | Slow weight gain | Skin problems in babies
Children: All ages
Feeling generally unwell | Tiredness | Sleeping problems in children | Growth problems | Excessive weight gain | Fever in children | Rash with fever | Skin problems in children | Hair, scalp, and nail problems | Itching | Lumps and swellings | Dizziness, fainting, and seizures | Headache | Confusion and/or drowsiness | Clumsiness | Speech difficulties | Behaviour problems | School difficulties | Eye problems | Disturbed or impaired vision | Painful or irritated ear | Hearing problems | Runny or blocked nose | Sore throat | Coughing | Breathing problems | Mouth problems | Teeth problems | Eating problems | Vomiting in children | Abdominal pain | Diarrhoea in children | Constipation | Abnormal-looking faeces | Urinary problems | Toilet-training problems | Genital problems in boys | Genital problems in girls | Painful arm or leg | Joint and back problems | Foot problems | Limping
Children: Adolescents
Adolescent weight problems | Adolescent behaviour problems | Problems with puberty in boys | Problems with puberty in girls | Adolescent skin problems
Adolescent weight problems
An adolescent needs more calories than an adult with a manual job. The rapid increase in height that occurs in adolescence and the development of adult body proportions sometimes leads a teenager to feel either too thin or too fat. Adolescence is a time when young people are particularly sensitive about their appearance, and as a result, it is a time when eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, are most likely to occur. Consult this chart if you are worried about your child's weight or if your child is outside the normal range for his or her height.
Eating disorders
Adolescence is the most common time for eating disorders to develop. Two of the most serious are anorexia nervosa (in which a person eats little or no food) and bulimia nervosa (in which a person avoids putting on weight by deliberately vomiting or abusing laxatives). These disorders, which can occur together, may cause permanent health problems.
Anorexia nervosa
This disorder affects approximately 1 per cent of adolescents, mainly girls, although the incidence in boys is rising. It usually occurs in people who are hard-workers, high achievers, and conformist, and is often triggered by weight loss after a diet. The person loses weight until he or she is emaciated. Most people with anorexia have an intense desire to be thin and see themselves as fat even when dangerously underweight. They may disguise their weight loss by wearing loose clothes and tend to become isolated and/or change their behaviour, for example by refusing to eat with others. Severe weight loss affects the heart and circulation and, in girls, often causes periods to stop. Heart failure is a risk at very low weights, and the risk of suicide is also increased.
Bulimia nervosa
Bulimia, like anorexia, mainly affects females: 3 per cent of women develop it at some time in their lives. People with bulimia often have low self-confidence and use food for comfort. They are usually of normal weight but have episodes (called binges) when they eat excessive amounts, often followed by deliberate vomiting or abuse of laxatives or diuretics. They may also exercise compulsively. Repeated vomiting causes damage to the teeth. Vomiting and the abuse of laxatives can result in chemical imbalances that may affect the internal organs, including the heart.
Family Doctor Health Advisor is for information purposes only, and is designed as a general reference and catalyst to seeking further information.
The RACGP is not engaged in providing medical or other advice or services, and is not responsible for the results of any actions taken by any person on the basis of any information in this publication, or for any error in, or omission from, this publication.
Publication Date: 31 March 2009
Authorised By: RACGP
