Middle School Diets

Specialties School

Published

Today I had a 12 year old come into my office with a headache and stomach ache. No fever, no vomiting, no diarrhea. She asked to just rest for 15 minutes. When I asked if she gets headaches frequently at home she said "No but I just started a new lifestyle diet called Keto last week and now I have the Keto flu so I get a lot of headaches." I let her rest for a little bit and return to class. She says her parents know. I feel very uncomfortable. I'm not sure if my thinking is clear because all I can think of is my older sister who has spent the past 15 years struggling with eating disorders. I worry for this young girl starting an extreme diet and what her future relationship with food will be like. I'm all for kids eating healthy, skipping junk food and choosing fruits or vegetables instead, but I'm worried about a 12 year old starting a fad diet. I'll probably discuss with our school counselor later today, but what would you have done or what have you done when someone so young tells you they're on a potentially damaging diet?

Specializes in School Nursing, Ambulatory Care, etc..

Hey, Biscut!

Did ya call the parent? What was the outcome?

('cuz I know you have nothing better to do!)

Mom claims the child is not on the keto diet. Mom & dad have been doing keto and making "keto friendly" dinners, but the kids are eating normal breakfast/lunch/snacks per mom. The child might be regurgitating things she's heard mom & dad talking about. I'm still keeping an eye on her.

Also the junk food convo--my husband's family owned a vending machine company when he was growing up. The house was always full of leftover vending junk food. He would have a bag of potato chips and a Pepsi for breakfast EVERY MORNING as a kid. Horrifies me.

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