If my son has an eating disorder will my daughter?

Okay, My mom wanted me to ask you this question we think my little sister maybe one day might have an eating disorder because I did whats your guys thoughts on this?

I can't find any resources saying that anorexia has hereditary influences (that is to say, if you have a mutation on this gene you are more likely to have it), but I only checked pubmed. Wiki might have something on it. These things tend to be passed by situational psychological factors such as family issues and being made fun of for being overweight, at least what the literature says. Get her cognitive behavioral therapy as soon as you notice something and start antidepressants if it is diagnosed. Source(s): Hah, I know little to nothing about anorexia even though I was anorexic for 2 years. I think you either grow out of it or you die, like a girl from my high school did. She got all the publicity while I struggled internally. Mine was situational, of course.

Eating disorders are not contagious. Go read a book.
Depends on why you developed an eating disorder. If your family focuses alot on how much people eat, or how big or small they are, or things like that, she may develop an eating disorder in order to protect herself from criticism. If you're all pretty accepting of food and other people's weight, she'll probably be ok.
I dont think one necessarily leads to another. We all deal with stress in different ways. Make sure she has a healthy way of managing it from a very early age. Also, help her build her high self esteem and body image as soon as possible! Has she started showing symptoms already?
Not necessarily. They don't run in families but the conditions that caused one sibling to take that route *could* cause the other to follow. If you say you HAD an eating disorder meaning it's in the past you and your family should have learned more about them and consequently how to prevent it from occurring again. I assume you had some help from a therapist or counselor so I would talk to them about it to find out anything you and your family might be able to do to prevent it.
Eating disorders are not genetic. They are usually found in over-achievers who feel they lack control, and have poor body image. Your mom can stop your sister from having a disorder by affirming her self image, and giving her some sense of control in her life. Perhaps you lost a sense of control because of loss of a loved one, parents divorce, an abusive relationship, etc... and what you ate was all you could have any say over at the time. AND you felt compelled somehow to be perfect, in school, in yourself...in everything, and to you, thin was perfect, or at least a part of perfect.

If you make sure your sister understands that a) she's good enough, even if she's a size 14, 18, or 4...and b) she's loved and accepted even if she gets a C on her test, and c) NOBODY, and you mean NOBODY, has the right to tell her she's not...she'll be fine. And, let her pick out her own style when she's old enough to want to, whether that's wearing goofy clown shoes and a bowtie, or preppy, or grunge. It's just hair and clothes, and they will change. That way she can feel she has some authority over what happens to her....and if you give her the right support system, she won't stray too far from your ideal image.