Yeah, that's a good point but I do think very young children can have psychologically based eating disorders, too.

I've seen the potential for this in my younger cousin.
She is a pre-schooler, but with highly developed language skills, and altogether very advanced for her age, considering she's the youngest of a number of siblings and has 'grown up' quickly to keep pace with them.
Her mother is very thin and always on a diet.

At the age of 2-4...
- She would reject the healthy dinners our grandmother made and request 'good food like mummy has' (diet food).
- She looked troubled at the prospect of eating the chocolates following an easter egg hunt we went on, claiming they would make her 'fat'.
- Another cousin of mine offered to give her a piggy-back ride, which she politely declined, because she's 'a bit too heavy'.

Not saying she has an E.D. or anything, but it's an illustration that the psychological seeds of an E.D. can be sown at a young age in susceptible individuals.

Things like this make me really sad. I mean how does a five year old learn how to make herself sick? I kinda don't understand how this can come about at such a young age... does this mean i'm naieve?

I was 6 years old the first time I started restricting and was hospitalised for three months.

That's really sad, Sally. I really hate to pry and please don't comment if it's too personal, but have you got any idea what made you take such dangerous actions at such a young age?

I felt that that was reported much better than many I've seen. Lots of papers covered this story, blaming it on the media, which I disliked. Scapegoating is such a common technique in reporting and it irritates me.

Oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear this Sally. I really hope my question didn't in any way offend you, I was just unsure how this could happen

Similar to sally, I started off quite young. The first time I refused food, I was still in a crib. My mom said she would wake me up, but I refused to eat. I lost weight as I grew taller, and apparently they were pretty concerned. The first time I went weeks without eating, I was 8. I went to a number of doctors, none of them actually asked if I was eating.. I didn't go into a hospital because .....well, not sure why.. my parents are a bit ..off. Anyway, I did however go spend 3 months with my grandparents to "fatten me up"

I think it started off feeling like i didn't deserve time, food, love.. I don't know if it's all genetics, but it certainly played a piece in my own story.. it loaded the gun, and my life experiences pulled the trigger.

This was the very article that made me end up on TV talking about my ED. They asked me what I thought about it and I couldn't really find words. I didn't know what I thought about it. I said I was "shocked but not suprised" yet I didn't think live TV was the appropriate forum to start talking about how sceptical I was about five year olds having the self-awareness to know that food can = a weapon against oneself.

I was just talking to a friend about this same issue the other day. She has a young girl who she babysits for who is 6. Her mother is extremely overweight to the point of truly being unhealthy. The young girl has stopped eating and won't eat due to the fear of being big like mommy. She has had to be hospitalized 3 times so far. It's amazing how much kids are watching their parents and picking up things from them.
I have another friend whose mother has had an eating disorder for years and continues to refuse therapy or help. My friend grew up with disordered eating behaviors because the mother would tell her at a very young age of 5 that she was getting fat and needed to stop eating bad foods and would question her after birthday partys and play dates through out her young life. She then developed closet eating behaviors and hoarding foods in secretive places.
The entire situation makes me want to cry and/or get on a soap box and start screaming at the media and for parents to be so selfish they cannot see the damage they are doing to their children.

I have very strong opinions and a passion about young girls (and boys) and how we are not empowering them but rather cutting them down at young ages. Mind you I understand many eating disorders don't begin because of body image issues and food but other circumstances (I fall into that category and still do - but it is about self esteem). But I just feel so bad about such young children feeling bad about themselves. I would go on but I will digress and save it for another time. Sorry it got long winded.

-Kate