Teen Eating Disorders: Warning Signs, Treatment & How Parents Can Support Recovery

When your teenager is struggling with an eating disorder, knowing what to say and what not to say can make a profound difference.

Jennifer Hope Longenecker shares what parents need to know about warning signs, treatment, relapse, family support, and helping a teen move toward recovery without blame or shame.

In this episode of Family Dialogues, Dr. Taniesha Burke speaks with Jennifer Hope Longenecker, trauma-informed mental health coach, mother, and co-author of Held in the Dark: A Mother Daughter Guide to Navigating an Adolescent Eating Disorder, Treatment and Recovery.

Drawing from her family's experience supporting her daughter through an eating disorder, Jennifer discusses the subtle early warning signs of eating disorders in teenagers, including avoiding family meals, restrictive eating, excessive exercise, secrecy around food, and changes that can easily be mistaken for normal teenage behavior.

Jennifer and Dr. Burke explore anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, and restrictive eating, as well as how parents can begin a conversation when they suspect something is wrong. Jennifer also explains why finding a professional who specializes in eating disorders, rather than simply having experience with them, can be critically important.

They also discuss:

How diet culture and body talk at home can influence children and teens
Why families may need to stop labeling foods as “good” or “bad”
What to say instead of commenting on a teen's weight or appearance
How an eating disorder can affect siblings, marriage, and the entire family system
Why parents may need individual or couples therapy while supporting their child
The importance of a multidisciplinary eating disorder treatment team
Residential treatment, partial hospitalization (PHP), and intensive outpatient programs (IOP)
Why relapse does not erase previous recovery progress
How parents can support recovery without becoming the “food police”
Managing parental guilt, shame, and self-blame
Why recovery often involves ups and downs rather than one straightforward path

Jennifer reminds parents that needing additional treatment does not mean their child has lost everything they previously accomplished; it can simply mean they have reached a hurdle that requires more support.

Her message to families is one of hope: recovery is possible, parents are an important part of the treatment team, and neither teenagers nor their families need to navigate an eating disorder alone.