A mother's complaints of overeating by her 25-month-old daughter: a proposal of anorexia nervosa by proxy.
The following is a report on a case of a 25-month-old girl brought in by her mother with complaints of overeating. The patient was referred to the Psychiatric Clinic of Nagoya University Hospital from the Department of Pediatric Surgery. The mother indicated the patient to have begun overeating before the age of 1 year. However, the patient was of low height and low body weight, and appeared, rather, to have been underfed. The issue was the mother placing severe restrictions on the child's diet, pathologically afraid of the child overeating. The mother seemed to have been suffering from a disorder similar to anorexia nervosa, although not typical. Her fear that her child might eat too much was believed to be a projection of the mentality characteristic of anorexia nervosa on to her child, which would justify labeling the child's condition anorexia nervosa by proxy.
Honjo
S
S
Department of Clinical Studies for Family Development, Nagoya University School of Education, Japan.
D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016735:Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy / Q000175:diagnosis*