“My daughter is losing her appetite. Is this connected to a thyroid imbalance?”
My daughter has a sudden loss of appetite. I found out that she's been skipping breakfast in the morning, and isn't really helping us pick what we should eat at night. I know she doesn't have an eating disorder because she does eat her lunch and dinner. But, she just doesn't seem interested. I read this could be due to an imbalance in her thyroid. Could this be true? What should we do?
3 Answers
Appetite is a desired to eat. All higher animals have appetite. It exists to control the energy balance adequate enough to meet our metabolic needs. Appetite is more important not only to regulate energy balance but also for growth and development. A healthy appetite helps us ingest enough amount of food to sustain our metabolic needs, repair, growth and development. Hunger, nice food, good smell etc stimulates appetite. When we are full satiety kicks in and we stop eating. Some medical, emotional, psychiatric and hormonal conditions can cause loss of appetite (anaroxia) or may stimulate of appetite.
Anorexia Nervosa is an emotional state that can lead to food avoidance or eating smaller portions. It stems from a distorted body image (that the person believe he/she is fat though it is not true). There is therefore an intense fear of weight gain. This requires early recognition and counselling intervention for a good out come.
It is common especially in teenage girls who are just starting to realize thier body image.
Anxiety, depression, stress and other psychological illnesses can suppress appetite. Various Medical problems such gastrointestinal issues can suppress appetite. Hormonal conditions such as under-active thyroid may suppress apettite as well.
It is therefore to appreciate that there are many causes of anaroxia (loss of appetite). The first step is to provide her with food that she likes and see if there is any improvement in her apettite. If the anorexia is situational it will improve in a short period of time. If there is no improvement you need to take her to her doctor for proper evaluation. The doctor will do complete medical evaluation and perform basic laboratory studies to rule out medical and hormonal conditions. Once medical and hormonal conditions are ruled out and the condition persists, she will need more help with counselling if indicated.
If her appetite is situational, you can provide her with high calorie food with high protein intake and encourage her to eat more frequently with at least three meals and three snack a day.
It is therefore very important that you discuss this issue with your doctor in a timely manner.
Good luck
Anorexia Nervosa is an emotional state that can lead to food avoidance or eating smaller portions. It stems from a distorted body image (that the person believe he/she is fat though it is not true). There is therefore an intense fear of weight gain. This requires early recognition and counselling intervention for a good out come.
It is common especially in teenage girls who are just starting to realize thier body image.
Anxiety, depression, stress and other psychological illnesses can suppress appetite. Various Medical problems such gastrointestinal issues can suppress appetite. Hormonal conditions such as under-active thyroid may suppress apettite as well.
It is therefore to appreciate that there are many causes of anaroxia (loss of appetite). The first step is to provide her with food that she likes and see if there is any improvement in her apettite. If the anorexia is situational it will improve in a short period of time. If there is no improvement you need to take her to her doctor for proper evaluation. The doctor will do complete medical evaluation and perform basic laboratory studies to rule out medical and hormonal conditions. Once medical and hormonal conditions are ruled out and the condition persists, she will need more help with counselling if indicated.
If her appetite is situational, you can provide her with high calorie food with high protein intake and encourage her to eat more frequently with at least three meals and three snack a day.
It is therefore very important that you discuss this issue with your doctor in a timely manner.
Good luck
Yes, you are right. Take your daughter to your primary care doctor to run some thyroid tests.
You did not tell me how old your daughter is. Often teenagers do not eat breakfast because they would rather sleep a little longer. This is not healthy and I tell all of my patients that they should be eating breakfast. However, it is also a normal thing for teenagers to do. You should have her meet with her primary care provider to see if there is anything going on.
