The Girl Who Won't Eat

Troop leaders and camp counselors are faced with many issues throughout the year. One that's been brought to my attention frequently is "the girl who won't eat." What do you do?

Perhaps you see a girl sitting at the table watching her friends eating and declining food because she's on a diet. You, the "conscious" eater, are faced with a dilemma because you know this young person needs to be eating and that she will be affected by a starved brain and body. Here are some things to share with girls.

People have physical needs that must be met in order to live. These needs are so strong that we're driven to satisfy them. We can't stop ourselves from trying to satisfy these needs, even if we try - at least not for long. In fact, there are very predictable consequences if we don't satisfy our needs.

What happens if you don't get enough sleep one night? You feel a little sleepy by late afternoon and maybe have a hard time concentrating. What if it was more than one night? What if for a week someone got you up three hours earlier every day than you're used to? How would you feel? Most likely you'll always be thinking about how tired you feel. You'll crave sleep and might become short-tempered and crabby.

What happens if you can't get as much as you want to drink? If someone tells you that no matter how thirsty you are, you can only have half the liquid you want for a whole week? What's going to happen is, you'll always be thinking about water or liquids. You'll find it hard to concentrate on anything else and you'll be craving a drink and become extremely thirsty. Then you'll probably become short-tempered and crabby.

Do you see a pattern here?

When our basic needs aren't met, we become preoccupied with them. We feel a powerful craving to satisfy the need, become irritable or self-centered. It's hard to think about anyone else's feelings. And when we finally meet that need, we often require more than a normal amount of whatever we were craving.

Check out the Air Diet, a great activity to demonstrate how our bodies react to depravation. Find it in the Girl Scouts' PHIZ program, Session Four, available at the resource center. While you're there, you may want to take a look at the entire PHIZ program. (PHIZ stands for Positive Healthy Image Zone).

There are many reasons girls do not eat. I only scratched the surface here. If you need more resources or help, you are welcome to contact Dr. Divya Kakaiya, the founder and supervisor of Healthy Within, an organization dedicated to promoting healthy body images and preventing eating disorders through treatment, education, awareness, and advocacy. Talk it Up!