Bidge eating is expanding among young people, the great compulsive binge of 30 thousand calories in less than half an hour. In Italy at least 3 thousand deaths a year from anorexia. How to recognize the alarm bells and what to do
Rome, 31 May 2018 Anorexia, bulimia, 'binge eating', i.e. the great compulsive binges that usually mask loneliness and existential malaise. THE eating disorders, to whom the World Day on Saturday 2nd June, they reap more and more baby-victims. “I am at least 300 children between the ages of 6 and 12 who accuse even serious problems with food”, reveals the female doctor Laura Dalla RagioneProfessor of Eating Disorders at theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma (first University to have instituted this subject) e consultant to the Ministry of Health on the subject, as well as author of the book 'Le mani in pasta', which has just arrived in bookstores. “We are talking about very young prisoners of food but also of drugs, which are often consumed hand in hand with food”, explains the doctor.
"80% are girls, but the phenomenon is also growing among boys”, he adds, enumerating figures from a social emergency, as well as a health one: “To the 300 children they must be added another 3,2 million cases between 12 and 17 years and the data is uniform in all the Regions”. Although then the 140 centers able to take care of children and adolescents are concentrated in the Centre-North.
Even more alarming are the data on mortality: “Over 3 people, mostly women in their 40s, are victims of anorexia, according to the latest estimates from the Ministry of Health. In practice the first cause of death after road accidents in the 15-25 age group”, explains Dr. Dalla Ragione, who also judges the data undertostibut to you, "because they do not include all those deaths classified as from renal or cardiac causes and which instead conceal the consequences of anorexia".
But the new food addiction, increasingly common among adolescents is called 'binge eating', 'binge eating disorderin scientific terms. “Those suffering from this disorder can swallow from three thousand to 30 thousand calories in just twenty minutes. It's like swallowing seven Easter doves in a short time”, explains the doctor. “The big binges - adds - usually occur at night, away from the eyes of family members. Who often don't know how to behave, even why 'locking' the fridge is not enough. A psychological treatment is needed. Like the one to which the kids hosted in Citta della Pieve, in Umbria, undergo for two months".
If the phenomenon is worryingly expanding among the little ones, the ability of parents to pick up the first signs of the disorder, often mistaken for a simple overweight problem, is becoming increasingly important. “Age is getting lower and unfortunately, with one in four children, Italy is the first country in the EU for childhood obesity, which is a risk factor with respect to real eating disorders”. "Overweight children usually end up being bullied and this opens the door to diets that are sometimes too drastic. For this reason, care must be taken when some distorted behaviors persist, such as always discarding the fat from the ham, eliminating the breading from the meat and in general anything that is considered caloric". "Alarm bells ring when weight loss accompanies this. The other symptoms – concludes Dalla Ragione – are behavioral changes. Bright and sociable girls and boys become irritable and aggressive at home, while academic performance declines".
What to do in these cases? “It is necessary contact specialized centres scattered throughout Italy, mapped by the Ministry of Health and contactable through the address www.disturbialimentarionline.it, or the toll-free number 'SOS eating disorders' of the Prime Minister: 800.180969”. A service directed by Dr. Dalla Ragione.
