{"id":1552,"date":"2014-02-25T16:12:26","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T16:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/?p=1552"},"modified":"2026-07-13T16:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:36:05","slug":"eating-disorders-dubai-first-borns-face-higher-risks-developing-eating-disorders-uae-experts-warn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/eating-disorders-dubai-first-borns-face-higher-risks-developing-eating-disorders-uae-experts-warn\/","title":{"rendered":"First-Born Children and Eating Disorder Risk in Dubai | GNC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Eating<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennifer Bell, The National, February 24, 2014 Updated: February 24, 2014 22:45:00<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.thenational.ae\/uae\/health\/first-borns-face-higher-risks-of-developing-eating-disorders-uae-experts-warn<\/p>\n

DUBAI \/\/ Parents\u2019 high expectations of their first born, particularly girls, are putting the children at risk of developing eating disorders.<\/p>\n

The huge pressure of the responsibility to succeed and set a good example can prompt eldest children to rebel by reducing their food intake as a way to regain control over their own lives. The model child and the one who does well at school are most at risk, experts say. \u201cBeing the first, you end up holding a great deal of the family\u2019s anxieties and expectations,\u201d said Jared Alden, Counsellor in the German Neuroscience Centre in Dubai Healthcare City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oldest child feels a tremendous responsibility to do things the correct way.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren, young girls especially, we put so much pressure on them, on the way they look and act \u2013 that they have to get on in education but also marry,\u201d said Mr Alden, 51, a psychologist and counsellor in Dubai with a 20-year background in helping people with eating disorders. This pressure can lead to girls trying to find one aspect of their life they can fully control and some find that with food management, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEating disorders are about control, the ability to control your own life, feelings, failures and your own body. \u201cIn this way older siblings are far more likely to have an eating disorder because of the pressure on the first born. \u201cThey are put in a position of responsibility far more than younger siblings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Alden believes between 5 and 8 per cent of young people aged 12 to 18, Emiratis and expatriates alike, suffer from eating disorders. He treats about four patients a month. \u201cEating disorders are still something that are successfully hidden here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

A study by Dr Justin Thomas of Zayed University and Sabrina Tahboub-Schoult of the American University of Sharjah, published last year, suggests three-quarters of young Emiratis suffer with body issues and one in five of those need clinical intervention. \u201dIt is most definitely on the rise,\u201d said Mr Alden, Psychologist in Dubai, not just in the UAE but in other Arab countries too. He has had patients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt.<\/p>\n

Parents and teachers must look for the warning signs, he said. \u201cI would watch for the child who is very quiet, very compliant, the child who never breaks the rules, the ones who are emotionally too easy \u2013 in a sense that they never get too upset, almost as if they have a smile pasted on their faces. \u201cHaving a sense of control and rituals are a part of an eating disorder, so the child often does very well at school.\u201d This is the \u201cclassic child\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

Both teachers and parents need to reduce pressure on the child. \u201cA lot of people rule with fear,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to let a child fail in your presence.\u201d Dr Deema Sihweil, clinical psychologist and director of the Carbone Clinic, also in Dubai Healthcare City, said certain dysfunctional family dynamics had a critical influence in shaping the relationship between children and food \u2013 although she points out that no one is immune to an eating disorder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh pressure from parents, unrealistically set expectations of children and adolescents and pathological eating habits of the parents greatly influence their children\u2019s development,\u201d said Dr Sihweil.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these high expectations can make one who is already predisposed more vulnerable to developing an eating disorder as an attempt to restore control.\u201d<\/p>\n

While parenting plays a significant part, it is not the only factor, she said. \u201cThere are equally critical emotional, biological and environmental factors as well. \u201cNevertheless, the family is absolutely critical in helping to identify and treat the eating disorder.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents are, of course, the primary caregivers and they should model proper and relaxed attitudes about food and should never use food as a reward or punishment when disciplining children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Bell, The National, February 24, 2014 Updated: February 24, 2014 22:45:00 http:\/\/www.thenational.ae\/uae\/health\/first-borns-face-higher-risks-of-developing-eating-disorders-uae-experts-warn DUBAI \/\/ Parents\u2019 high expectations of their first born, particularly girls, are putting the children at risk of developing eating disorders. The huge pressure of the responsibility to succeed and set a good example can prompt eldest children to rebel by reducing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24896,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1552\/revisions\/24896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gncdubai.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}