Childhood Food Insecurity and Binge Eating Disorder

The State of Food Insecurity in Canada

 

To start, it's important to define food insecurity. Food insecurity arises when people or families do not have enough food. This problem is usually caused by the person or family not having enough money to get food but can also be caused by other problems that make it harder for people to get food. For example, a problem might be not having a car to get you to the store and having to rely on the bus. In recent years food insecurity has become a growing issue for Canadians. Almost 1 in 5 Canadians reported experiencing food insecurity. The age group that experiences food insecurity the most is children. About 1 in 4 of Canadian children experience food insecurity.

 

 Food insecurity has been connected to several health concerns. This includes both physical and mental health. For adults, food insecurity can put them at risk of anxiety, depression, issues with sleep and other mental health problems. For kids in families who do not have enough food, there are the same mental health concerns as adults. But children for who go hungry there are also risks of things like behaviour problems and trouble paying attention.

 

Food Insecurity and Binge Eating Disorder

 

Mental health issues related to not having enough food have been the focus of a lot of research. Recently, there has been growing concern that kids without enough food might be at a higher risk for eating disorders. One specific disorder that has been looked at a lot is binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is a mental illness where someone regularly eats a lot of food in a short time. Also, people with this disorder feel like they can't control their eating.

 

A new study checked how food problems and binge eating disorders are connected in kids aged 9 to 14. This study followed the kids for 2 years. They found that kids with food issues were more likely to get binge eating disorder than kids who did not. The authors say kids with limited food had a 33% higher chance of getting this disorder compared to kids who didn't have food problems.

 

The paper also mentions that since the COVID-19 pandemic, more people than ever are now having trouble getting food. Since kids are the most likely to have trouble accessing food in Canada. Then the decrease in access to food may have put more kids in danger of not accessing food. That means the number of kids developing eating disorders might be on the rise.

 

Take Away

 

If this post has left the reader with anything hopefully it has shown that limited access to food puts children at risk for eating disorders and that this is a major public health concern. There has been a recent increase in the number of children experiencing food insecurity after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are more children than ever who are at a higher risk of developing binge eating and other mental health disorders. It is important for us to address their need for mental health services and increase their access to the care they need.