Teen eating disorders can be physically and emotionally devastating. Symptoms such as extreme weight loss, changes in appearance, and physical exhaustion are dangerous for teens and frightening for parents. Newport Academy’s specialized teen eating disorder programming addresses immediate nutritional needs while treating primary issues, such as trauma, anxiety, or depression.
Teen Eating Disorder Treatment at Newport Academy
At Newport Academy, we recognize that mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are often linked to struggles with food and body image. Our integrated care creates sustainable healing by addressing teen eating disorder symptoms while treating primary mental health conditions.
Our specialized residential treatment for adolescents with eating disorders (available at some locations) provides both dietary and clinical care, delivered by a team that includes medical doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, board-registered dietitians, individual and family therapists, counselors, experiential therapists, and academic teachers and tutors.
All on-site staff, from our doctors and clinicians to our culinary teams and residential care coordinators, are trained in eating disorder awareness and Health at Every Size® (HAES) principles. These principles include respectful care, weight inclusivity, and eating for well-being rather than weight control.
Moreover, our approach to adolescent eating disorder treatment supports every aspect of a teen’s well-being. In addition to medical and psychiatric care, teens participate in multiple therapeutic modalities, academic programming, and executive functioning and life skills training.
Each teen’s tailored eating disorder treatment plan includes:
Psychiatric and medical care, including medication management, as needed, for underlying mental health issues such as anxiety and depression
Initial dietary screening, followed by ongoing individual check-ins and groups with board-registered dietitians
Tailored dietary and relapse prevention plan to take home upon discharge, so teens can maintain and build on gains made in treatment
Individual therapy to process underlying trauma and build self-knowledge and healthy coping skills
Body image groups and eating disorder–specific homework using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills
Family therapy to restore connection and trust, so teens with eating and mental health disorders feel safe turning to parents for support
Experiential therapy, such as rock climbing, kayaking, and yoga, that allows teens to build a positive connection with their body and its abilities
Strength-based academic component to keep teens on track with educational and career goals while receiving the treatment they need
Teen Eating Disorder Statistics
Most parents do not realize how common teen eating disorders are, especially since 2020. About 1 in 7 men and 1 in 5 women experience an eating disorder. In most cases, the onset of eating disorders occurs in adolescence or early adulthood. In fact, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency reports that 95 percent of people with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.
More teenage eating disorder stats:
The number of ER visits for teen eating disorders doubled in the first year of the pandemic.
81 percent of 10-year-olds worry about getting fat.
Close to half of teen girls engage in disordered eating.
Among high school students, 44 percent of girls and 15 percent of boys are trying to lose weight at any given time.
Only 10 percent of people with eating disorders receive treatment.
Every 62 minutes, a person dies because of an eating disorder.
When teens repeatedly exhibit a number of these behaviors, parents should investigate further. Warning signs of a teen eating disorder need to be heeded as quickly as possible.
The Most Common Types of Teen Eating Disorders
The three most common eating disorders in adolescents are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder.
Teen Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is the most well-known eating disorder. In addition, it has the highest death rate of any mental disorder, resulting from starvation, metabolic collapse, or suicide. From the onset, teenage anorexia is defined by three key features. An adolescent suffering from teen anorexia eats less and less, has a distorted body image, and is intensely afraid of gaining weight or becoming fat. This is true even though the teen may be have an average or low weight for their age, height, and gender.
However, adolescents can suffer from teen anorexia nervosa without appearing anorexic. They may severely restrict their caloric intake but maintain a relatively normal weight for some time. Even if a teen with anorexia is not drastically losing weight, it’s important to catch the teen eating disorder early, to prevent permanent physical damage. Therefore, knowing the signs and symptoms of teen anorexia can help.
Bulimia in Adolescents
Bulimia is a Greek word meaning “ravenous hunger.” Also called binge-purge syndrome, teen bulimia (officially known as bulimia nervosa) is a habitual disturbance in eating behaviors. As a result, teen bulimia is characterized by frequent episodes of excessive food intake. These episodes are followed by self-induced vomiting or some other method of purging the food from the body, such as laxatives, diuretics, or diet pills.
Teen Binge-Eating Disorder
Teen binge eating involves compulsive overeating. In some ways, teen binge-eating disorder resembles teen bulimia. But unlike the eating disorder behaviors associated with bulimia, binge-eating disorder does not include purging.
As with teen anorexia and teen bulimia, early intervention is critical.
Risk Factors and Causes of Teen Eating Disorders
There is no single risk factor that causes a teen eating disorder. Rather, most research has shown that multiple risk factors tend to be involved.
Underlying Mental Health Issues
Eating disorders are typically a manifestation of an underlying mental health condition. Most frequently, eating disorders in adolescence are symptoms of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and/or trauma/PTSD.
Genetics
Heredity plays a role. Eating disorders often aggregate in families. Studies of twins reveal that genetic factors account for 40 to 50 percent of eating disorder risk factors, including teen anorexia, teen bulimia, and teen binge-eating disorder.
Brain Functioning
There is a connection between eating disorders and brain functioning. Imaging studies have linked eating disorders to irregular brain activity patterns.
Perfectionism and Other Psychological Factors
A recent study linked eating disorders to perfectionism in teens. For some teens, eating disorders can be fueled by parental expectations and rigid thinking patterns.
Childhood Trauma
A history of childhood trauma can increase a teen’s risk of developing a teenage eating disorder. A childhood or adolescent trauma can manifest in eating disorders, alongside frequent co-occurring issues like anxiety and depression.
Social Factors and Peer Pressure
Being teasing by peers is a substantial risk factor for developing a teen eating disorders. In addition, teens constantly see idealized images of thin bodies on social media, in magazines, and on TV. This can trigger disordered eating or a full-blown eating disorder.
Do Boys Experience Teen Eating Disorders?
Yes, teens of any gender can suffer from an eating disorder. While teen eating disorders have been more prevalent among girls, the number of boys with EDs is increasing. For example, 25 percent of children with teen anorexia are boys. Moreover, 33 percent of teen boys admit to using unhealthy methods to control their weight. Such methods include smoking cigarettes, doing illegal drugs to curb their appetite, skipping meals, and misusing laxatives or diet pills.
Boys also struggle with what’s known as bigorexia. Teens with bigorexia, also known as muscle dysmorphia, believe that they are small and skinny, despite being typically or even unusually muscular. They compulsively work out and control their diet to increase their muscularity.
Moreover, trans teens often struggle with eating disorders as part of gender dysphoria. Transgender college students report experiencing disordered eating at approximately four times the rate of their cisgender classmates. In addition, gay and bisexual boys are significantly more likely to fast, vomit, or take laxatives or diet pills to control their weight.
The Importance of Early Intervention for Teen Eating Disorders
Given the dangers of teen eating disorders, early intervention is crucial. If not addressed, teen eating disorders can lead to permanent mental and physical health consequences and even death.
Even when not visually apparent, a teen eating disorder can be life threatening and requires immediate action. It cannot be ignored as a passing phase. In most cases, the longer an eating disorder continues, the more dangerous it becomes.
“Newport is uniquely positioned to support clients with mental health challenges and eating disorders or disordered eating. Our primary mental health focus allows our clinicians to do the deeper trauma work while providing nutrition education and support, which is the critical component for so many of our clients and families.”
Kara Becker, LMFT, National Director of Eating Disorder Programs for Newport Healthcare
Newport Academy’s Integrated Approach to Teenage Eating Disorder Treatment
At Newport Academy, we create a personalized adolescent eating disorder treatment plan that includes a mix of medical care, therapeutic modalities, and academic/life skills support. Read more below about the components of our eating disorder and mental health programming.
Dietary Services with Registered Nutritionists
At our locations offering specialized care for adolescent eating disorders, teens receive an initial dietary screening at intake. Our registered dietitians conduct ongoing individual check-ins and also facilitate weekly nutrition awareness groups. Prior to discharge, dietitians collaborate with families to create a dietary and relapse-prevention plan to ensure that teens maintain and build on gains made in treatment.
Psychiatric Care and Medication Management
Teens with adolescent eating disorders receive ongoing medical and psychiatric care from our MDs and nurses to ensure health and safety. Our psychiatrists conduct comprehensive assessments at intake that inform medication recommendations for the mental health issues accompanying teen eating disorders. Psychiatrists and medical doctors closely monitor patients’ progress throughout their treatment stay.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most effective approaches in helping teens heal from eating disorders. Teenagers learn to recognize the error messages their brain is sending about their body and their weight, and develop new ways of responding to them. By shifting their thinking patterns, teens begin experiencing more positive emotions, which translate into positive behaviors.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Teens learn to use DBT skills to stop destructive behaviors and then work on the negative thinking patterns that led to that behavior. The goal of DBT for teens is for adolescents to learn the skills they need to cope with and change unhealthy behaviors. The four main elements of DBT are distress tolerance, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotion regulation.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT helps teens learn to allow feelings and compulsions associated with eating disorders to come and go, without trying to push uncomfortable thoughts or feelings away. This type of therapy supports teens to practice self-compassion and learn to accept and eventually embrace who they are. ACT therapy encourages engagement in adolescent eating disorder treatment, leading to more positive outcomes.
Experiential Therapeutic Modalities
All teen eating disorder treatment plans at Newport Academy include experiential therapy, including outdoor Adventure Therapy like hiking and kayaking, art and music therapy, yoga and meditation, Equine-Assisted Therapy, and Mixed Martial Arts (depending on location). These modalities give teens ways to be in their body that support positive self-image and deeper connection with their own physical strength and abilities.
Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT)
ABFT is a foundational element of a teen eating disorder treatment plan at Newport Academy. We see family involvement as essential to an adolescent’s treatment and recovery journey. ABFT helps restore trust and connection in the family system, so teens who are suffering from symptoms of eating disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions feel safe going to their parents for support.
Strengths-Based Academics
We work closely with each child’s school and use tailored instruction and accredited curriculums to ensure that students continue to progress in their education while receiving treatment for teen eating disorders. Our specialized teachers and tutors support teens’ executive-functioning, motivation, and organizational skills while nurturing their interests and talents.
Get Started Today
To find out more about our teen eating disorder treatment, contact us today. Our expert clinicians provide teen mental health assessments at no charge, either in person or virtually, and will recommend next steps for eating disorder treatment.
Newport holds the Gold Seal of Approval® from The Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest healthcare accrediting body, and is affiliated with a wide range of national organizations and certification bodies.
