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The death of an 18-year-old girl in Kannur reportedly following extreme dieting and subsequent medical complications, possibly due to an eating disorder, has brought the focus sharply to the serious physical and psychological issues faced by teenagers over weight gain and body image issues.
Sreenanda, an 18-year-old, who had been admitted in an extremely weak state at a hospital in Kannur a week ago, died on Saturday (March 8) night and it was revealed that the teenager had been suffering from Anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterised by extreme restriction of food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight, and a distorted body image.
The Kannur incident is just the tip of an iceberg, nutritionists point out.
In a world obsessed with good looks and where everyone is a social media influencer pushing shortcuts to bring down body weight, the importance of eating right and nutrition are being just brushed under the carpet, they say.
Adolescents have specific nutritional requirements
“Rising obesity levels among children and adolescents is indeed a concern but these issues should be addressed in a comprehensive manner, not losing sight of the fact that growing children and adolescents have specific nutritional requirements which cannot be compromised. Children are never taught in school or at home about the importance of eating right and building a foundation for good health in their growing years. They are naturally drawn to the fad diets and short-term weight loss tricks peddled by the social media,” says Lakshmi Manish, a diet and nutrition expert in the city.
The problem is real and it is rising, thanks to the influence of social media where every other person is a nutritionist offering detox ideas and ‘belly-fat burning drinks’. It is only the extreme cases as that of the youngster at Kannur that get reported, but the tribe of teenagers following all sorts of unscientific dietary plans to get quick results are all too common, say doctors.
Even restrictive diets, which exclude whole food groups, like the keto diets, while inducing rapid weight loss can be harmful to liver and kidney health, recent research has shown.
Paediatricians say that eating disorders are common among children. They skip breakfast and depend on easily available fried/processed foods to stave off hunger and this is a sure-fire route to obesity. Children may become depressed or anxious over obesity/overweight issues and then indulge in emotional eating, which makes them more stressed and the vicious cycle continues, they point out.
Eating disorders in teenagers can also be serious mental health conditions that are typically seen during adolescence, which is a crucial period of physical, social and emotional development.
Conditions like Anorexia nervosa or bulimia (cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviours like vomiting) are borderline mental disorders, which, however, are seen rarely in children here.
What are eating disorders?
An eating disorder is a mental health condition where you use the control of food to cope with feelings and other situations.
Unhealthy eating behaviours may include eating too much or too little or worrying about your weight or body shape.
Anyone can get an eating disorder, but teenagers and young adults are mostly affected .With treatment, most people can recover from an eating disorder.
Anorexia nervosa (often called anorexia) – trying to control your weight by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or doing both. Bulimia – losing control over how much you eat and then taking drastic action to not put on weight and Binge eating disorder (BED) – eating large portions of food until you feel uncomfortably full are common eating disorders
Source: NHS, UK
Anxiety over body weight
“We see many children who are extremely anxious about body weight and start limiting their food intake. Some do binge eating and try to compensate for it by trying out the quick fixes on social media. Parents need to realise that the anxiety and fear expressed by children/teenagers over body weight issues are real,” doctors say
“I see a lot of teenagers who are extremely concerned about their body weight but most parents do not know or recognise it to be a serious issue. The emotional state of adolescents is very fragile and they are at risk of developing depression. Not just teenagers, even adults are so obsessed about weight loss these days that they forget that remaining healthy is the larger goal,” Ms. Manish says.
Published – March 10, 2025 07:38 pm IST