Eating disorders are serious illnesses that can affect a teenager’s physical health, emotional well-being, and development. They include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, ARFID, and atypical anorexia.
Eating disorders are not simply about food, weight, or appearance. Genetics, biology, psychological factors, and social and cultural influences can all play a role. They can affect teenagers of different body sizes and backgrounds, and the problem may not always be obvious.
Early recognition and treatment are important, and recovery is possible.
This section brings together research and practical information to help parents and families recognize teen eating disorders, understand the major treatment approaches, and know where to turn for help.
Nothing on this site should be considered medical advice. Medical decisions should be discussed with appropriate healthcare professionals.
Roger Streit
Download a printable PDF of this Teen Eating Disorders guide.
Eating disorders are serious illnesses, not simply problems with food or appearance.
They can affect teenagers of any gender, body size, or background, and a serious eating disorder is not always obvious from someone’s appearance.
Early recognition matters. Changes in eating, weight, exercise, mood, or behavior may be warning signs.
For adolescents, treatment often involves the whole family, along with nutritional rehabilitation, psychological treatment, and medical monitoring.
Recovery is possible, and earlier treatment generally offers the best opportunity for recovery.
Eating disorders are serious illnesses involving persistent disturbances in eating behavior. They often begin during adolescence and can affect physical health, growth, emotional well-being, and family life. They occur in boys as well as girls and in teenagers of all body sizes and backgrounds.
Anorexia nervosa involves severe restriction of food intake, an intense fear of gaining weight or behaviors that interfere with weight gain, and a distorted perception of body weight or shape. Some teenagers also exercise excessively. In adolescents, inadequate nutrition can interfere with normal growth and development as well as cause potentially serious medical complications.
A teenager with atypical anorexia can have the restrictive eating, significant weight loss, fear of gaining weight, and other features of anorexia without being underweight. This is particularly important because parents—and sometimes healthcare providers—may overlook a serious eating disorder when a teenager appears to be at a “normal” or higher weight.
Bulimia nervosa involves repeated episodes of binge eating accompanied by a feeling of losing control, followed by attempts to compensate for the food consumed. These may include self-induced vomiting, fasting, misuse of laxatives or other medications, or excessive exercise. Because weight may remain within an expected range, bulimia can be difficult for families to recognize.
With binge-eating disorder, a person repeatedly consumes unusually large amounts of food while feeling unable to control the eating. Unlike bulimia, the episodes are not regularly followed by vomiting or other behaviors intended to compensate for the food eaten. Binge eating is often accompanied by distress, embarrassment, or guilt.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is different because concerns about weight or body shape are not the primary reason for restricting food. A teenager may eat very little or avoid many foods because of sensory sensitivities, lack of interest in eating, or fear of consequences such as choking or vomiting. ARFID can lead to inadequate nutrition, impaired growth, or significant disruption of everyday life.
Eating disorders do not always look the way families expect. A teenager does not have to look extremely thin to have a serious eating disorder. Significant changes in eating behavior, weight or growth, exercise, or attitudes toward food and body image deserve attention.
Early evaluation by healthcare professionals experienced with adolescent eating disorders can help determine what is happening and what level of treatment may be needed.
Eating disorders often develop gradually, and early signs can be easy to dismiss as normal teenage behavior. A teenager does not have to be underweight to have a serious eating disorder.
Watch for skipping meals, avoiding family meals, eliminating foods or food groups, rigid rules about eating, secretive binge eating, frequent bathroom trips after meals, or increasing concern with calories, weight, or “clean” eating.
Significant weight loss or unexpected changes in normal growth can be warning signs. So can excessive or compulsive exercise, particularly exercising despite illness, injury, or exhaustion.
Possible signs include dizziness, weakness, fatigue, feeling unusually cold, difficulty concentrating, changes in menstrual periods, anxiety, irritability, secrecy, or social withdrawal.
A pattern of changes in eating, weight or growth, exercise, mood, or behavior deserves attention, even when a teenager appears healthy.
If a teenager shows a pattern of restrictive eating, significant weight loss, binge eating, vomiting, compulsive exercise, or increasing preoccupation with food and weight, it is better to seek help early rather than wait for the problem to become severe.
A pediatrician or other healthcare professional can assess weight and growth patterns, heart rate and blood pressure, nutrition, and other signs of medical problems. When possible, seek someone with experience treating adolescents with eating disorders.
Choose a calm time and focus on specific changes you have noticed rather than appearance or weight. Express concern without blame or criticism. A teenager may deny that anything is wrong or resist getting help; that does not necessarily mean that evaluation should be postponed.
Parents should not assume that the teenager must become motivated to recover before treatment can begin. With adolescents, active family involvement is often an important part of treatment.
Fainting, severe weakness or dehydration, a very slow heart rate, chest pain, difficulty breathing, confusion, repeated vomiting, refusal or inability to eat or drink, or concern about suicide or self-harm requires prompt medical evaluation.
Eating disorders can become medically serious even when a teenager does not appear extremely thin. When in doubt, getting an evaluation is safer than waiting.
Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is one of the best-supported treatments for adolescents with anorexia nervosa and is also used for some other eating disorders. Sometimes called the Maudsley approach, it treats parents as an important part of the solution rather than as the cause of the eating disorder.
Early in treatment, parents take an active role in helping their teenager eat enough and restore healthy nutrition and growth. As recovery progresses, responsibility for eating is gradually returned to the teenager.
Treatment usually takes place at home with regular guidance from an eating-disorder treatment team. The goal is not to blame or control the teenager, but to help the family confront an illness that can make normal eating extremely difficult.
A teenager with an eating disorder may genuinely have difficulty recognizing the seriousness of the illness or making adequate nutrition a priority. Treatment does not have to wait until the teenager is motivated to recover.
Research and clinical guidelines support family-based approaches, particularly for adolescents with anorexia nervosa. FBT is not appropriate for every teenager or every family, but when it is suitable, parents can play a central role in recovery.
For teenagers with restrictive eating disorders, restoring adequate nutrition is a central part of treatment. Adolescence is a period of rapid growth and brain development, and insufficient nutrition can affect the heart, bones, hormones, concentration, mood, and normal physical development.
Undernutrition can increase anxiety, irritability, rigid thinking, and preoccupation with food. This can create a difficult cycle: inadequate eating affects the brain in ways that can make eating normally even harder.
As nutrition improves, some of these psychological and cognitive symptoms may also improve.
The goal is not simply to reach a particular weight. Treatment should consider the teenager’s previous growth pattern, stage of development, medical health, and nutritional needs.
For some teenagers, particularly those with atypical anorexia, serious nutritional problems can occur even when their weight appears to be within a “normal” range.
Nutrition and weight restoration should be guided by healthcare professionals experienced with adolescent eating disorders. There is no single appropriate target or eating plan for every teenager.
Adequate nutrition helps create the physical and mental foundation needed for the rest of recovery.
Eating disorders involve both the body and the brain. Anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive traits, perfectionism, and rigid thinking are common among teenagers with eating disorders. These problems may exist before the eating disorder begins, develop alongside it, or become worse when nutrition is inadequate.
The brain requires substantial energy and nutrients. When a teenager consistently eats too little, changes can occur in concentration, mood, judgment, flexibility of thinking, and emotional regulation.
Food may also become an increasing preoccupation. A teenager who previously had little interest in calories or meals can become intensely focused on food while undernourished.
This can create a self-reinforcing cycle. Restrictive eating can increase anxiety and rigid thinking, which in turn may make eating and accepting treatment more difficult.
Improving nutrition can help reverse some of these effects, although coexisting conditions such as anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder may require treatment of their own.
Parents may interpret resistance to eating as stubbornness or simply a choice. Some of that behavior may reflect changes associated with the eating disorder and inadequate nutrition.
Restoring adequate nutrition and addressing psychological problems therefore often need to proceed together.
Sports can provide teenagers with exercise, friendships, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment. But some young athletes are at increased risk of inadequate nutrition, disordered eating, and eating disorders, particularly in sports that emphasize leanness, weight categories, endurance, or appearance.
A teenager may become increasingly rigid about workouts, exercise despite injury or illness, become distressed when unable to exercise, or add substantial exercise outside normal training.
These behaviors can be mistaken for dedication. Compulsive exercise, however, can be part of an eating disorder.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) occurs when an athlete does not consume enough energy to support both normal body functions and the demands of training.
Over time, inadequate energy availability can affect growth, bone health, hormones, menstrual function, immunity, mood, and athletic performance. Boys as well as girls can develop RED-S.
Eating less and training more may initially appear to improve performance in some sports. Over time, inadequate nutrition can contribute to fatigue, injuries, slower recovery, impaired concentration, and declining performance.
Coaches, parents, healthcare professionals, and athletes should recognize that adequate nutrition is part of athletic training, not an obstacle to it.
Teenagers encounter a constant stream of messages about appearance, weight, dieting, fitness, and food. Social media can intensify these pressures by presenting highly edited images, promoting unrealistic body ideals, and encouraging comparison with others.
Eating disorders are complex illnesses influenced by genetics, biology, psychological factors, and environment. Social media does not by itself cause an eating disorder.
However, for some vulnerable teenagers, repeated exposure to weight-loss content, “what I eat” videos, extreme fitness advice, or idealized bodies may increase body dissatisfaction and reinforce restrictive eating or excessive exercise.
An interest in nutrition is not necessarily a problem. But parents should pay attention when eating becomes increasingly restrictive or when a teenager develops rigid rules about foods being “good,” “bad,” “clean,” or “unhealthy.”
Rather than focusing only on screen time, parents can talk with teenagers about how online content is selected, edited, and promoted. It can also help to encourage accounts and activities that emphasize interests, abilities, relationships, and well-being rather than appearance.
The goal is not to eliminate every potentially harmful message. It is to help teenagers become more critical consumers of the messages they see.
Treatment depends on the type of eating disorder, medical condition, age, and individual circumstances. It often combines nutritional rehabilitation, psychological treatment, medical monitoring, and family involvement.
For adolescents with anorexia nervosa, Family-Based Treatment (FBT) is one of the best-supported approaches. Other forms of psychotherapy may be useful for bulimia, binge-eating disorder, ARFID, and accompanying anxiety or depression.
Medication is generally not the primary treatment for anorexia nervosa, although it may sometimes be used for accompanying psychiatric conditions. Certain medications can be helpful for other eating disorders, but their use in teenagers requires careful medical supervision.
Some teenagers require day treatment, residential care, or hospitalization because of significant medical or psychiatric risks.
Researchers continue to study new psychological treatments, medications, and other approaches. Promising or experimental treatments should be distinguished from treatments already supported by good evidence in adolescents.
These organizations provide reliable information, practical guidance, and support for families dealing with eating disorders.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides medical guidance for recognizing and treating eating disorders in children and adolescents. Pediatricians can play an important role in early detection, evaluating medical complications, monitoring growth and nutrition, and coordinating care with eating-disorder specialists.
Pediatric Eating Disorders: The Medical Care of Children and Adolescents
This July 2026 AAP publication specifically addresses anorexia, bulimia, ARFID, binge-eating disorder, atypical anorexia, medical evaluation, and treatment.
F.E.A.S.T. is an international nonprofit created specifically for parents and caregivers of people with eating disorders. It emphasizes evidence-based treatment and the important role families can play in recovery. Its free resources include family guides, caregiver education, webinars, support groups, and practical help with treatment and meals.
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) is a major U.S. nonprofit providing information about eating disorders, warning signs, treatment, and recovery. Its resources can help parents understand eating disorders and determine what steps to take when they are concerned about a child or teenager.
The free Parent Toolkit covers warning signs, talking with a young person, medical risks, treatment, mealtime support, working with schools and treatment teams, and questions to ask healthcare providers.
NEDA also provides resources to help families locate eating-disorder treatment and professional support.
The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) is an international professional organization for clinicians, researchers, and other specialists in eating disorders. It provides evidence-based information about eating disorders, medical complications, and treatment.
AED is more professionally oriented than F.E.A.S.T. or NEDA, but it is a useful resource for families who want to understand the research and clinical standards behind eating-disorder treatment.
Lauren Muhlheim, Psy.D. is a psychologist specializing in eating disorders and is certified in Family-Based Treatment (FBT). She is the author of When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder and writes extensively about how parents can help adolescents recover.
Her website offers practical guidance on FBT, meal support, ARFID, excessive exercise, treatment, and the role of parents in recovery.
Muhlheim explains Family-Based Treatment (FBT), one of the best-supported treatments for adolescents with eating disorders. Parents take an active role in restoring nutrition and interrupting eating-disorder behaviors, with responsibility gradually returning to the teenager as recovery progresses. She also explains the principles behind FBT and when a higher level of care may be necessary.
Muhlheim’s book is a practical guide for parents based largely on Family-Based Treatment (FBT). It explains how parents can help restore adequate nutrition, manage difficult meals, normalize eating, gradually return independence to the teenager, and help prevent relapse.
Muhlheim explains how exercise fits into recovery for teenagers receiving Family-Based Treatment (FBT). She discusses why exercise may need to be restricted during recovery and how it can gradually be reintroduced as nutrition and medical stability improve.
Finding professionals with specific experience treating adolescent eating disorders is important. Parents may want to begin with their teenager’s pediatrician and ask specifically about experience with eating disorders and Family-Based Treatment (FBT).
Search for eating-disorder treatment providers and programs throughout the United States.