Nutritional advice to support you through family-based treatment

This information is for parents or carers who are currently receiving treatment for their young person within the Dorset eating disorder service.

Family based treatment model for eating disorders

An essential starting point in treatment is supporting you to focus on improving the nutritional intake of your young person. This is to stabilise and improve their physical health, and to begin to challenge eating disorder thinking and behaviours.

We find that our parents and carers have good nutritional knowledge; however an eating disorder can affect your confidence when it comes to making food choices, and following through with them.

We’re aware that establishing new eating routines is challenging both for yourself and your young person. There are many supportive strategies that can help with this, and a good starting point will be reviewing the various resources under the essential reading and resources section.

The following information is designed for you to select topics that will be relevant and supportive to you during treatment. For any further specific nutritional information please link in with your health professional or dietitian within the team.

Understand more about the different food groups and their importance to health and wellbeing

Watch a video on planning meals and choosing snack options within a balanced eating approach

Read a guide to use (or just to gain reassurance) with what portion sizes to aim for when serving meals and snacks.

A guide on daily nutrition plans to support various phases of weight restoration and weight maintenance

Information for parents