Just a Little Too Thin: How to Pull Your Child Back from the Brink of an Eating Disorder

by Meg Schneider, Michael Strober, Meg F. Schneider

Book Overview

Some diets are just that-a brief episode of calorie or fat counting; they are merely attempts to lose weight for the sake of a smaller skirt size. Other diets, however, are a prelude to the kind of problem with food that has nothing to do with shape or size but rather emotional issues which, left undetected, could bring a child to the brink of a serious eating disorder. The line between one and the other is sometimes hard to determine and many girls...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738210188
• ISBN13: 9780738210186
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

Should be read with STICK FIGURE by Lori Gottlieb

Dr. Michael Strober provides excellent insight for parents of girls suffering from eating disorders. His combination of academic research and clinical experience makes his advice both practical and effective. There is no other guide like this out there. Another excellent resource for parents is STICK FIGURE: A DIARY OF MY FORMER SELF by Lori Gottlieb. I heard a reading from both books tonight, and having both the doctor's and patient's points of views was invaluable. As a parent of a teen girl, I highly recommend reading both books together.

David Feinberg, MD

Dr. Michael Strober has taken his life's work, synthesized it, and encapsulated in a very well written, accessible text. Dr. Strober is known internationally in academic psychiatry and psychology as a "triple threat". This means he has the highest respect as a clinician, teacher and researcher. When it comes to eating disorders you want Dr. Strober to care for you; you want him to teach you and you want to follow his research findings. Now all of these arenas are covered in one place: Just a Little Too Thin: How to Pull Your Child Back from the Brink of an Eating Disorder. I consider this a must read for any patient or family dealing with anorexia as well as all students and clinicians interested in eating disorder.

Useful and Insightful

I have been privileged to have my therapy practice in the same office as Meg Schneider. I didn't realize what an authority she was on eating disorders until I read her book. It is insightful, highly readable for professionals and lay people alike. Meg really understands the psychodynamics of adolescent girls and the warning signs that they are on the brink of or actually suffering from an eating disorder. The book includes case studies, quotes from adolescents and pre-adolescents, reviews of theories regarding eating disorders and ideas to counteract eating-disordered behavior. These are mixed nicely to provide a stimulating reading experience that will be helpful to the parents of eating-disordered children and the therapists that are treating them. Lorin Woolfe, MSW, LCSW

Now I get it.

I am the father of an adolescent girl who has begun to worry about her weight. I haven't understood why as she is quite slim, but certainly can see she is a perfectionist. Up until now the only books I could find to understand what's happening to her were frightening and about actual illness. There wasn't anything about what could be happening to MY child now -- while she's still rather healthy. This book is totally great. I now understand where my daughter is on the dieting spectrum, I have a sense of how to read her behaviors and I even feel confident now talking to her about food, weight, and her desire to be thin. We're not fighting. We're actually talking. This is a book that seems to have helped me put each of us in a safer place. I highly recommend it to any parent who is seeing their child begin to obsess about her weight.

Dieting Out of Control

I have a lovely child who started dieting several months ago and never did I think she would be ruled by obsession. I could not believe what was happening, and how quickly the problem took hold. Then, I heard about this book and there it was, every one of the personality traits and social stresses the book discusses as early warn signs. For weeks I was doing things that I know now were not helping, even making things worse. Things really started turning around when I followed the suggestions in this book. I only wish I read it two months ago. Thank you Dr Strober and meg Schneider!!!!!