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(Diet) Culture & Society

Understanding EDs

News & Research

Treatment & Recovery

Body Image

Food & Fitness

For a large portion of her illness, Equip Peer Mentor Stacy Jones blamed herself for her eating disorder. “I spent several years thinking I just had a problem with willpower,” Jones says. “I read so many books about developing willpower and became more and more discouraged—I figured I must've been the problem.”

Jones describes a feeling many people with eating disorders are familiar with—particularly those who struggle with 

 Despite the fact that BED is the most common eating disorder in the United States, it’s arguably one of most misunderstood and stigmatized. There's often a misrepresentation of binge eating disorder facts. 

The uncontrollable urge to eat large amounts of food (bingeing) characteristic of BED is often considered a personal failure in our 

-entrenched society, though we know it’s almost always a biological response to food deprivation. And because BED is more common among people in larger bodies, those with the disorder may feel even more exposed and vulnerable to 

People with BED might be used to hearing that binges — a symptom of their eating disorder — are the result of a lack of willpower. Not only is BED 

 an issue of willpower, but it’s a complex neurobiological mental illness, just like all eating disorders. The physiological, psychological, and emotional components of the disease are powerful and can’t be overlooked. Here’s what everyone should know about binge eating disorder facts.

Binge eating disorder facts: Why BED has nothing to do with willpower

: the most common eating disorder in the U.S., affecting about 2.8 million people; an illness that, unlike other EDs, affects males and females fairly equally; a 

 influenced by myriad genetic and environmental factors. Here’s what BED is 

: the manifestation of any sort of personal shortcoming.

“Let's remember that eating disorders provide a ‘false sense of control’ over our lives, starting with what we choose to eat or how our body looks,” Equip Dietician Gabriela Cohen says. “That ‘high’ or feeling of ‘pride’ from restricting gives a false sense of success. Ultimately, you are failing to actually take care of your body. Depriving the body of nourishment often leads to binge eating behaviors which are simply the response to that restriction.”

Cohen is describing one of many potential root causes at the heart of 

eating disorders: restriction. While food deprivation is considered one of the hallmark symptoms of anorexia, restriction is also a significant component of binge eating disorder because of something known as 

, most binges are preceded by a period of restriction, because the physical hunger and mental exhaustion of food deprivation is unsustainable. In BED, the never-ending list of food “rules” and attempts to “be good” (i.e. restrict) result in inevitable “slip-ups” (i.e. binges), leading to a frustrating and potentially dangerous cycle of restricting, bingeing, feeling shame, and restricting again.

“That idea that binges are due to a lack of willpower can cause feelings of guilt, defeat, and anxiety, which in turn trigger even 

 binge eating disorder behaviors and the continuation of the binge-restriction cycle” Cohen says.

Jones agrees that any form of restriction can contribute to the difficulties of BED. “Oftentimes people address physical restriction but not 

 restriction,” she says. “Labeling food as ‘good’ and ‘bad,’ avoiding ‘unhealthy’ foods, and other forms of mental restriction are also likely to increase binge urges.”

Equip Therapy Lead Brittney Lauro also says the willpower mindset goes against our primal human need for nourishment. “In truth, our brains haven’t evolved all that much,” she says. “So when we apply the willpower mindset to something like cutting out sugar or carbs, it activates the deprivation fear in our brain. We were designed to operate this way because it’s what helped us survive: we would increase our intake of food when resources were available so we could survive when resources weren’t, like in a harsh winter. Even when we can intellectually understand that food is available, this primal fear of deprivation gets activated, leading us to binge eat, or feel out of control with our eating.”

It’s also possible for BED to serve as a form of emotion regulation. “For some, it might be a form of grounding, for others it might serve as a way to check-out or desensitize ourselves when painful memories or experiences are prompted,” Lauro says. “For those who are neurodiverse, binge eating might be associated with ‘stimming,’ or self-regulating.”

“Diet culture loves to moralize foods, thoughts, and behaviors, such as how restricting ‘bad foods’ should be viewed as a sign of strength that one should be proud of,” says Equip Dietician Gabriela Cohen. “When you restrict your diet, the body craves an influx of food. Giving in to this natural response through 

 or binge eating, is then is looked at as ‘failure’ in the eyes of diet culture.’”

Because this diet culture mentality is woven in the fabric of our modern society, it plays an undeniable role in the shame spiral. “We live in a society where we are conditioned to believe that if we just work harder we can do anything, like losing weight,” says Lauro. “The reality is that life isn’t that simple. The myths around willpower generate billions of dollars in revenue to the diet industry.” When willpower is marketed as the solution to everything, those with BED can be consumed with shame that their eating disorder behaviors are the result of their own lack of discipline.

Lauro adds, “In nearly all instances where I have professionally treated BED, as well as when I worked in the fitness industry, I have seen folks come in with the idea that their willpower will change it all,” she says. “I can see so clearly how this idea is normalized. We see it in the media, written on the walls of workout centers, and we hear it from healthcare professionals, colleagues, friends, and family.”

How to overcome the “willpower” mindset and actually heal BED

Considering the diet culture we’re all immersed in, separating from this mindset might be difficult — but it’s possible. Accepting and understanding the need for self-compassion and actionable steps toward treatment will help ensure long-lasting recovery from any eating disorder.

“The good news is, nearly all effective strategies for coping with and treating binge eating don’t require or involve willpower,” Lauro says. “Moreover, they don’t involve removing certain food groups from your life or home—in fact, this is often a surefire way to increase the probability of binge eating in the future.”

Because the restrictive behaviors at the root of BED inevitably perpetuate the cycle of 

, experts say establishing or re-establishing consistent patterns around food is critical to recovery. “First and foremost, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a regular pattern of eating,” Lauro says. “What that means is three meals and two to three snacks eaten at regular intervals of time throughout the day, making sure to never go more than three to four hours without an instance of eating.”

While the contents of those meals and snacks may differ from person to person, the goal is to adequately satiate the body and brain to prevent the fear of deprivation. “For some people, having consistent eating instances as well as dietary variety will resolve or quiet down the binge eating,” Lauro says.

Cohen agrees that the primary treatment strategy for BED must focus on building regular eating patterns with the support of a team. “Yes, you actually need to eat to overcome BED,” she says. “With the support of a team, you’ll also be challenged to break your food rules and restrictions, and eat your fear foods consistently, because if restriction persists, the binge-restrict cycle will continue.”

Working with a team using enhanced cognitive behavioral therapy

Another effective strategy experts used to treat BED in an evidence-based modality called 

 or CBT-E. This modality is a multi-stage, highly individualized approach that includes monitoring and noting thoughts, which is vastly different from a typical food log or what you might see in a fitness app says Lauro. Monitoring is designed to be completed in the moment, which in and of itself serves as a way to slow down, or disrupt, the process of binge eating. Oftentimes, folks describe feeling like they get into a ‘spiral’ during binge episodes that leads to feeling out of control. By utilizing an evidenced-based tool like a monitoring record, you can intervene with the spiral and create an ‘in the moment’ pause.”

Establishing distress tolerance techniques

While binges can often occur as a result of longtime restriction, there are other potential psychological and emotional factors at play that people should be aware of as they move toward recovery. “Many people end up binge eating as a way to avoid emotions—and this can even serve as a survival technique, like in cases of trauma,” Lauro says. “Healing from binge eating involves learning to sit with discomfort and tolerate distress. You can certainly practice this on your own if you feel it’s accessible and safe, but if you’d like more support, or binging is tied to more intense experiences, I highly recommend working with an eating disorder specialist to assist creating a strategic guide to building up distress tolerance.”

Jones says it’s imperative to explore the emotions that arise in the moments leading up to, during, and after a binge from a place of curiosity to help better understand the causes behind it. To truly work through the challenges of the illness, confronting and navigating the unpleasant feelings underlying the disorder is paramount. “One of the foundations for recovering from BED is working through shame and learning binge eating disorder facts,” she says. “If you experience shame, know that society has placed it on you and it’s not yours to carry. When we relate to binges from a place of compassion it holds less power. This creates space for healing and moving beyond BED.”

If you or someone you love might be struggling with binge eating disorder, know that there’s support available. 

 with our team to learn more about virtual eating disorder treatment at Equip.

Bray, Brenna, Chris Bray, et al. “Mental Health Aspects of Binge Eating Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Mixed-Methods Study of Binge Eating Disorder Experts’ Perspectives.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 13 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.953203.

CBT-E. Accessed October 24, 2023. https://www.cbte.co/.

Binge Eating Disorder Isn’t About Willpower. Here’s What It Is About.

Anyone who tuned into Oprah Winfrey’s TV special, “Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution” last year likely walked away with one particular phrase reverberating in their head: “food noise.” The special, which focused on weight loss medications, covered the journeys of several people who have used these medications, including Winfrey. During the special and in subsequent interviews, Winfrey 

 how using these medications “quiets the food noise,” enabling her to suppress her hunger cues enough to maintain a lower weight.

Since then, coverage of “food noise” has been all over the place—often used by drug manufacturers as a way to entice potential customers. But food noise is much more nuanced than these ads and Oprah’s documentary might imply, and it can be particularly complex for people with eating disorders. “My food noise was always on,” says Equip Lead Peer Mentor Makailah (Mak) Dowell. “It never turned off, even after meals and snacks. My food noise served as a bully to ensure I aligned with my eating disorder, not with myself.”

 (which is essentially what weight loss medications help people do) only made the problem worse. “For some folks, when they step away from the food, the food noise becomes quieter,” she says. “For me, it would only turn up more. My eating disorder couldn’t and wouldn’t let go of me, and it knew that food noise was a large piece of me allowing it to stay.”

“Food noise” isn’t just a buzzy phrase invented to sell medications, and it’s not an indication that you “need” to lose weight or work on suppressing your hunger. Read on to understand the true definition of food noise, how to spot the signs of a problematic thought pattern around food, and how to get support when the noise gets too loud.

 for “food noise,” it’s largely considered something many people experience. “As a registered dietitian working with individuals experiencing 

, I think about food noise as describing the persistent and unwanted thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about food and eating that take up excessive mental, physical and emotional space,” says Equip Dietitian Lead Tanya Hargrave-Klein MS, RDN. “This may include obsessive thoughts about food rules.”

One common example of these food rules is the idea that you shouldn’t eat between meals. When someone takes this type of rule to heart, Hargrave-Klein says it contributes to constant judgement they may feel toward their own eating habits. “This becomes part of food noise when a person ‘shoulds’ themself about never breaking this rule,” she says. “Then it becomes difficult to not have 

 about eating snacks: ’What would I have?’ ‘What would it taste like?’ ‘When would I have it?’”

According to many of Hargrave-Klein’s patients, this type of relentless running dialogue can feel similar to a tape playing repeatedly in their heads. “They often feel like they’re being bombarded 24/7 by persistent thoughts about food and eating,” she says. “Some also report persistent 

 thoughts as well. Having persistent thoughts about food crowds out space for other thoughts, making them unable to be truly present in the moment and fully engage in other activities.”

For Dowell, food noise consisted of a continuous loop of thoughts like “you don’t deserve this meal,” “that’s too much food,” and “that food is too scary right now.” “I would describe it as the isolated events where the eating disorder, 

, or stress of a meal/snack/food is loud,” Dowell says. “When I say ‘loud,’ I don’t mean Beyonce in a Century Link Stadium loud. I mean, these persistent thoughts that will not stay out. These thoughts would continually show up in my mind to the point where I would step outside of my values and into my eating disorder.”

While many people experience some degree of food noise on occasion, the incessant drone of negative or self-punishing thoughts can be problematic—particularly if it’s the result of 

. “People have thoughts about food throughout the day,” Hargrave-Klein says. “We think about which foods are available in our pantry, what foods taste good to us, and which foods would satisfy our hunger, to name a few examples. These recurring thoughts help us plan ahead so that we can nourish adequately. It’s when these thoughts become more frequent and persistent that they can be problematic and feel more like food noise than useful food thoughts.”

Dowell says that in her case, the thoughts about food were rooted in shame, guilt, and the morality of eating or choosing certain types of food. “My food noise would deem me worthy or not every single day,” she says. “Even with what I drank: ‘Soda or no soda?’ ‘Water or no water?’ It controlled me.”

According to Hargrave-Klein, there can be many negative repercussions associated with chronic, internal judgements about food. “If someone can’t turn down the volume of the food noise, it can become difficult to divert energy and attention to other things,” she says. “It may take much longer to complete tasks at work or school. They might be less interested in activities they used to enjoy, like social events or recreational activities. An individual's world often contracts as the food noise takes up more and more mental space.”

One classic and regularly referenced scientific study underscores Hargrave-Klein’s message. In November 1944, scientists began a year-long investigation into the psychological and physiological effects of hunger on 36 young men. Commonly referred to as 

, the project required the men to lose 25 percent of their normal body weight through a calorie-restricted diet. The results were dramatic, with the participants exhibiting obsessive thoughts about food, irritability, slow and unusual eating behaviors, increased anxiety and depression, and much more. The starvation had essentially amplified the participants’ food noise to levels that inhibited their everyday functioning.

“If someone gets too hungry or restricts their intake of food (think: 

), this may trigger food noise—and lead to out-of-control eating when they finally give themself permission to eat,” Hargrave-Klein says. “This can result in 

 of feeling hungry, which initiates the barrage of food noise, followed by out-of-control eating. This then repeats daily, leaving the individual with escalating feelings of guilt and shame.”

The relationship between food noise and eating disorders

While the participants in the study didn’t have eating disorders, the hunger-induced effects they experienced as a result of restriction mirror those experienced by people with eating disorders. In Hargrave-Klein’s clinical experience, patients with eating disorders often describe similar thought patterns as a result of food restriction.

“Some report not being able to stop thinking about what food looks like, smells like, or tastes like,” she says. “This is often a result of them restricting their dietary intake by eliminating foods or food groups (e.g. not eating carbs), 

 (e.g. skipping meals) or eating foods that don’t satisfy (e.g. always eating chicken and rice). Others report overwhelming urges to view photos of food, scroll Pinterest for recipes, or report an inability to stop thinking about their next meal or snack. While individual experiences with food noise vary from person to person, it’s rare that food noise is not present with an eating disorder.”

Food noise isn’t an inherently bad thing—and in a lot of cases, it might just be a sign that you’re hungry. But sometimes, incessant thoughts about food can indicate that there might be a deeper underlying problem, like an eating disorder.

Here are some signs that might indicate your food noise is a cause for concern:

Thoughts about food are negatively affecting your performance at school or work, or impacting your ability to complete daily responsibilities.

You find yourself thinking about food when trying to engage in activities that used to make you happy, like reading, watching a show, or doing a hobby.

You plan your meals and snacks far in advance, and repeatedly think about what you’re going to eat (even after you’ve already decided).

You spend an abnormal amount of time consuming food-related content, like looking at food-related posts on social media, reading recipes online or in cookbooks, or watching food shows.

Thoughts about food feel more important than all or most other thoughts in your mind.

If more than one of the signs above sound familiar to you, you may be dealing with an eating disorder. We recommend talking to a trusted, eating disorder-informed professional about your concerns, or taking our free, 5-minute 

Whether or not an eating disorder is the root cause, excessive food noise can have a negative impact on your life. Knowing that food noise is a common and predictable consequence of restriction, there are several strategies that can help quiet the intrusive thoughts:

Prevent extreme hunger whenever possible.

 “Eat regularly throughout the day, which means eating a meal or snack every two to four hours during waking hours,” Hargrave-Klein says. “When the body doesn't receive what it needs, it turns on food noise to encourage you to eat. It is a pretty cool system designed to save you.”

Make plans with others who can support you. 

“I would ensure that after school, I had plans to eat lunch at someone’s house or be around folks,” Dowell says. “By not isolating myself, I ensured a protective barrier from the eating disorder.”

Include a variety of foods with your meals and snacks. 

“Rigid or repetitive eating can trigger food noise,” Hargrave-Klein says. “Adding variety and satisfying foods can turn down the volume of the food noise.”

Challenge the negative or self-punishing thoughts

. “Are the messages you hear accurate and truthful?” Hargrave-Klein asks. “Talk to a dietitian to debunk any 

misinformation wrapped up in the food noise

. And consult with a mental health professional and learn skills to quiet food noise.”

To that last point, it’s critical to seek professional help to help combat food noise if the thoughts are negatively impacting everyday functioning or joy. “If food is dominating someone’s thoughts, or the noise is triggering unhealthy behaviors such as 

 or not eating enough, it would be advised for the individual to seek professional help,” Hargrave-Klein says.

Dowell also advises anyone struggling with intense food noise to seek support. “I remember when I thought I was going to live my life everyday like this,” she says. “Then my first therapist told me, ‘hey, did you know that it can be silenced?’ I cried. I didn’t know that I could even work my way to that form of peace and when it was offered to me..”

The conversation around food noise today can be complicated. Here’s what to remember to, well, cut through the noise and find a healthy balance when it comes to thoughts about food.

Food noise refers to obsessive, repeated thoughts about food. It can take the form of thinking about what you’re going to eat or just ate, focusing on food rules for yourself, spending lots of time consuming food-related content, obsessing over what others are eating, or any other persistent and repetitive thoughts about food.

Food noise isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it can negatively impact your life when thoughts about food prevent you from engaging in other things that bring you joy or negatively impact your performance at school or work.

Food noise doesn’t always signal an eating disorder, but almost all eating disorders have food noise as a symptom.

You should be concerned about food noise if you find that it’s taking up a great deal of mental space, affecting your daily life, and taking precedence over other (more important) parts of your life.

You can help to turn down the volume on food noise by making sure you eat an adequate amount for your body, eating with others who can support you, eating a variety of different foods, and challenging rigid food-related beliefs or rules you hold.

If you’re concerned about how much time you spend thinking about food, talk to a professional. Even if an eating disorder isn’t the underlying cause, food noise can negatively impact your mental health and prevent you from living the free, meaningful life you deserve.

Baker, David, and Natacha Keramidas. 2013. “The Psychology of Hunger.” Https://Www.apa.org, October 2013. 

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/10/hunger

Clinic, Cleveland. 2024. “What Is Food Noise? And How to Quiet It.” Cleveland Clinic. December 9, 2024. 

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/food-noise-and-how-to-stop-it

Leonard, Elizabeth. 2023. “Oprah Winfrey Reveals She Uses Weight-Loss Medication as a ‘Maintenance Tool’: ‘I’m Absolutely Done with the Shaming’ (Exclusive).” Peoplemag. December 14, 2023. 

https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-reveals-weight-loss-medication-exclusive-8414552

What is "Food Noise"? And How to Know if it Signals an Eating Disorder

Long before JD Ouellette became well-versed in eating disorders, she encountered a seemingly harmless parenting issue: her high schooler started a diet. “When my 17-year-old daughter and her friends went on a ’healthy eating makeover,’ it never occurred to me this would be anything other than a rite of passage in womanhood,” says Ouellette, now Equip’s Director of Lived Experience. “What I learned the hard way—and it's a devastating way to learn—is that in a genetically vulnerable person, 

 is triggered by burning more calories than you eat, and my daughter was one such person.”

Like many parents, Ouellette didn’t initially suspect any risk for disordered behavior when her daughter expressed interest in dieting. After all, our society associates many forms of 

 with “healthy” discipline (a false notion continuously reinforced by 

). “A common trap I see parents get caught in is thinking that a focus on being ‘healthy’ or wellness is a good thing—or at least not harmful,” says Equip Vice President of Program Development, Jessie Menzel, PhD. “Often, health and wellness is just a cover up for weight loss and extreme dietary changes. Don’t make the mistake of letting a new interest in ‘healthy eating’ go undiscussed.”

While her daughter has recovered in the decade-plus since her anorexia diagnosis, Ouellette can’t help but reflect on their family’s good fortune. “She is very well today, and not every story turns out this way,” she says. Indeed, 

 that dieting is associated with greater eating disorder risk and psychopathology, and so there’s reason to be concerned if your child has started changing their eating habits in order to lose weight. Luckily, there are ways to navigate the dieting conversation and protect your child from walking a dangerous path that could lead to a disorder. Here’s what every parent should know when it comes to dealing with kids and diets.

Although it’s a common belief that eating disorders and 

 concerns only affect teenage girls and young adult women, anyone of any age can struggle with food, weight, or exercise issues—including young kids. “Unfortunately, I don’t think young children being concerned about their bodies is anything new,” Menzel says. “There has been research for decades that body image concerns 

 as young as four or five years old, and that body dissatisfaction can be well established by eight years old. Messages about thinness, weight loss, and dieting have been pervasive in our culture for a long time.”

Ouellette believes that much of this messaging is rooted in the moralization and worship of certain body types. “Children have long known that ‘thin is good’ and ‘fat is bad,’” she says. “It's very telling to look at a selection of toddler/preschool/elementary school books on diversity and see the unwritten message: you can be any skin color, but your body must never be anything but thin.”

Eating and body concerns affect people of all genders as well. “Remember that body image and diet culture are not just concerns for young girls—they also impact boys,” Menzel says. “There has been a trend over the past few decades for 

 to feel more pressure to conform to societal appearance ideals and to use extreme dieting behaviors to manage their appearance.”

Complicating matters is the fact that social media has completely transformed the cultural landscape in the past few decades, leaving many parents bewildered about the messages their kids are absorbing. “Today it’s not just books or TV—it is everything, everywhere sending the message that being thin and ‘fit’ is the only option for being a ‘good’ human being,” Ouellette says. “This message comes from the media, from doctors, from schools, from diet culture, and from 

. It's inescapable; body size has become intertwined with morality.”

Menzel agrees, and notes that while body image concerns have long been prevalent in young children, online culture has certainly intensified the pressure to conform to a particular body type and weight loss-driven behavior. “I do think that the relatively recent increase of social media use among children and teens poses an insidious and unique new risk for the development of body image problems,” she says. “Social media gives kids unprecedented access to information on 

, fuels social comparison—which is a major risk factor for body image dissatisfaction—and allows for the very public criticism of people’s appearances.”

What to do if your child wants to lose weight

Navigating conversations about dieting and weight loss as a parent can be incredibly tricky and even intimidating, given the possible slippery slope that could end in an eating disorder. But with the right strategies, you can encourage constructive conversation, model healthy behavior, and help guide your child toward a positive relationship with food and their body.

1. Stay firm in your stance but discuss the 

“Explain that growing up means your body is in a constant state of growth and change, which requires a lot of food, and be clear that bodies come in all shapes and sizes,” Ouellette says. “Explore the why of wanting to lose weight; validate that it can be hard to not fit an unrealistic ideal and you will support them to process and deal with that—

 you have a responsibility to their physical and mental health to not let them do something damaging.”

“By asking questions first, you can get to the root of your child’s worries, connect with them, and then start to help shift their way of thinking,” Menzel says. “This can offer an important opportunity to correct misinformation from peers or social media and foster more helpful beliefs about weight and eating.”

Ouellette also recommends looking into messages they may be getting from their school that could promote harmful thinking about food and bodies (for instance, that certain foods are “good” and others “bad”).

“Never forget to model comfort with your own body, even if you have to fake it until you make it. There's a powerful short video called ‘

’ that can help with getting your message across,” Ouellette advises. The 

-themed video explains the lack of diversity in current weight and health research and the importance of taking individuality into account when considering these issues.

“Check your own thoughts and actions,” Menzel adds. “Parents are not immune to diet culture and we reinforce it at home in subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways. Try to catch yourself before you comment on your own weight or eating habits, take note of how often you compliment others on their appearance. Are you, yourself on a diet and how do you talk about or show that at home? Changing your own self-talk is important role modeling for your child.”

“Educate your children about the harmful messages and images that they see and hear,” Menzel says. “Make sure that children and teens know about how easy it is to manipulate images and that what they see often isn’t real. Call out misinformation about food, weight, and wellness. Talk about how 

 and can nourish our bodies—not to mention that food also makes us feel good and fuels connection. Discuss how weight gain is normal and healthy for a developing child.”

5. Help them feel prepared to confront diet culture in their social world

 that of all the sources of pressure to diet and lose weight, peers are often the most influential,” Menzel says. “Introduce them to body positive or anti-diet social media accounts. Help them figure how they will respond when their friends bring up dieting, disparage their own appearance, or comment on someone else’s. It can be hard to challenge this kind of conversation in the moment, and talking about it ahead of time can help your child feel confident navigating these conversations without sacrificing their friendships.”

Having frank and honest conversations with your child about the potential dangers of dieting is an important part of fending off 

, but in some cases, professional guidance and support is crucial.

“If you are validating your child and helping them to understand bodies come in all shapes and sizes and they’re still struggling with body image or trying to lose weight, seek professional support,” Ouellette says. “Interview prospective therapists about their views on bodies and weight and the treatment model they use. Ask them for literature that informs their treatment approach and what materials they’ll share with your child. If available, a therapist aligned with Health at Every Size is a good place to start.”

Ouellette also adds that it can be helpful to get an eating disorder screening for your child if you observe eating disorder signs, like:

Dramatic weight loss or gain in a short period of time

Other mental health concerns, like anxiety, depression and self-harm

According to Menzel, parents also should be aware of the following signs that their child’s body image issues might be cause for more concern:

Their body image worries take up an increasing amount of time and resources (i.e. they’re spending more time in their room getting ready, consuming more content on social media, or spending more money on products—especially at the expense of other activities or interests).

Their body starts to become a reason for them 

 to do certain things (i.e. they give up a sport they love or they avoid pool parties with their friends or they no longer wear clothes they used to love).

They have significant mental health shifts like increasing anxiety, depression, or loneliness. “All of these changes are signs that your child’s body image concerns might be a symptom of a bigger problem,” Menzel says.

If you’ve noticed these red flags or other troubling symptoms, it’s important to seek help for your child right away. “I usually recommend that parents start by talking to their pediatrician—however, be mindful that the pediatrician’s office can often be a source of weight loss and diet messages,” Menzel says. “An evaluation with a mental health professional who specializes in eating disorders is the best way to go.”

Reflecting on her own experience, Ouellette now sees the immense influence parents can have on their children’s relationships to their bodies. “Diet and wellness culture are everywhere and it can be very hard to know what is true and what is designed to make you feel bad about your body and sell you things,” she says. “We are never going to be able to avoid diet culture completely, but we can work on our relationship with our own bodies in order to model the self-acceptance and self-care we want to impart to our children. We can ‘just say no’ to our own and our children's participation in a toxic system that deprives people of true mental and physical well-being.”

If you’re concerned about your child’s eating habits, don’t ignore it. Some good first steps are to 

, talk with your doctor or a trusted mental health professional, or 