Survey of 1,000-Plus Caregivers Finds 1 in 3 Face Mental Health or Eating Struggles
Updated
Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 27
Survey of 1,000-Plus Caregivers Finds 1 in 3 Face Mental Health or Eating Struggles
3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 27
Summary
More than 1,000 eating-disorder caregivers surveyed by Equip reported heavy strain: 80% felt overwhelmed, and 1 in 3 said they also live with anxiety, depression or disordered eating.
Parents often recognized their own problems only after a child's diagnosis and treatment exposed similar patterns around food, exercise and body image, as in cases involving Beth Ayn Stansfield, Kristi Humston and Inga Yanoski.
Clinicians said many eating disorders are missed because people are not medically underweight; the clearer warning sign is how much food, exercise and body-image thoughts dominate daily life and isolate people.
Experts urged caregivers to seek therapy and model regular eating and neutral body talk during a child's recovery, stressing that a parent's eating disorder does not cause the child's illness.
The issue may grow harder to spot amid GLP-1 marketing, praise for thinness and normalized excessive exercise, which specialists say heighten the need for earlier detection and more support for families.