Lynn Grefe from the National Eating Disorders Association says, "If you get a diagnosis of an eating disorder, there's no shame in that. It's just another illness, and it's treatable."�

According to Grefe, preventing an eating disorder is difficult but diverting that disorder and dealing with it in a sensitive and timely manor is vital. A child will display a change in behavior.

Some signs of this behavior change include, mood swings, changes in behaviors around food, changes in diet, leaving a table immediately after every meal, avoiding meals, hiding food in their room and weight loss.

The best way to approach your child is "to reach out and say I'm concerned. I've noticed that you might have some challenges with food. I would love to talk to you about it and let's talk to someone who might understand your problems,"� says Grefe.

Grefe advises against taking the family member with a disorder to a general family doctor. Instead, seek the proper help from a specialist for the child in need.

She says, "You want to make sure the family does not blame the child. Just telling the child to eat is not the answer. You need to understand that the person is showing how they feel about themselves through their behaviors with food."�

NEDA is there to help with their hotline, 800-931-2237, their website, www.nationaleatingdisorders.org, and their toolkits for educators, coaches and athletic directors.

"We have people that answer the phones and respond to e-mails every day, Monday through Friday, so we get calls from all over the world from people who are looking for help,"� says Grefe.

"The sooner a family member can get the child to counseling and appropriate treatment, the better because then the child doesn't have to get so sick,"� says Grefe. "My favorite stories are the ones where a parent is not afraid, where they just call us for help."�

According to Grefe, NEDA can answer your questions and refer you to the proper help nearest you for the loved one who suffers from this disorder. "Our best stories are when we can get to people early, when we can turn the tide,"� says Grefe.

She continues, "What we can do as a society and a family is not be talking about fat grams and going on diets all the time. Don't be criticizing people because of their weight or size. We encourage families to talk about a healthy lifestyle."�

The post How to help a child with an eating disorder appeared first on FamilyToday.

The best way to deal with child mistreatment is to prevent it from happening. "Abuse has a tremendously negative impact on the family and our society,"� Hmurovich says.

Prevent Child Abuse America has calculated that the nation spends $80 billion per year in direct and indirect costs to remediate the effect of untreated maltreatment. On an individual basis, the estimated average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment is $210,012 in 2010 dollars, including $32,648 in childhood health care costs; $10,530 in adult medical costs; $144,360 in productivity losses; $7,728 in child welfare costs; $6,747 in criminal justice costs; and $7,999 in special education costs. Additionally, the survivors of child maltreatment have an increased risk of poor health, criminal behavior and delinquency.

Below are tips designed to help families prevent and recognize abuse.

Methods of prevention

1. Get educated

• Most abuse happens as a result of elevated stress and frustration.

• Parent support groups can help provide families with the proper techniques to deal with stress and greatly reduce the risk of neglect and abuse in the home.

• Hmurovich recommends "home visitation,"� a program that sends a volunteer to teach new parents how to give the best care possible to their newborn and reduce the risk of abuse in the home.

2. Be informed

• Parents need to be informed of all types, causes and signs of abuse.

• Be cautious of relying solely on "stranger danger."� Most abusers are someone who is trusted and close to the family.

• Limit or eliminate situations where one adult (non-parent) and one child are alone.

• It is an adult's responsibility to keep the child safe.

• Building a trusting relationship with children can help a child avoid abusive relationships and situations.

HHS' Tips for Recognizing Abuse

1. Child may demonstrates a sudden change in behavior and school performance

2. Child has not been helped with a physical or medical ailment that the parent is aware of

3. Child has newly developed learning problems not resulting from physical or mental causes

4. Child seems to constantly watchful or ready for something bad to happen

Hmurovich advises anyone who recognizes that a child is in need of assistance to call the child protective service emergency hotline immediately. The important thing is to, "Tell someone you can trust and ask for help. Get the ball rolling somehow. You can put an end to the abuse and remain safe,"� Hmurovich says.

To contact the child abuse emergency hotline at any time call: 1-800-4-A-CHILD

The post How to prevent and recognize child abuse appeared first on FamilyToday.