Getting Help When You're Worried About an Eating Disorder

Getting help for a teen you think may have an eating disorder starts with a call to their doctor or pediatrician this week, because the first question is how the eating disorder is affecting your teen's body, and only a medical evaluation can answer it. From there, the doctor can connect you with a treatment team and help decide what level of care fits, which for most teens begins with outpatient treatment rather than a hospital or residential program.

If your teen faints, has chest pain, seems confused, or is too weak to get through the day, call 911 or go to the emergency room now. If your teen talks about hurting themselves or not wanting to be alive, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

Why should the first call be to your teen's doctor?

The first call should be to your teen's doctor because eating disorders are medical as well as psychological illnesses, and a doctor can check whether your teen's body is safe before anything else happens. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises that treatment "should begin with a visit to a pediatrician who will assess how the eating disorder has affected the body," and adds that "if the effects are severe, the person may need to be hospitalized" (AAP HealthyChildren.org, 2025).

Eating disorders are serious illnesses, and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) notes that they can affect the heart, bones, and many other parts of the body, and that "even people who appear healthy can have eating disorders and be extremely ill" (NIMH, 2024). NIMH also says that "early detection and treatment are important for recovery," so waiting to see whether things improve on their own costs time.

When you call, describe what you've seen and when it started, and ask for an appointment that week rather than at the next routine checkup. If you haven't talked with your teen yet, our guide on how to talk with your teen when you're worried about eating can help, though you don't need your teen's agreement to make the call.

What does a medical evaluation check?

A medical evaluation for a possible eating disorder checks how your teen's body is coping, looks for other causes of the changes, and shows the doctor how urgent things are. A 2022 position paper from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) describes the initial evaluation as covering diagnosis, "exclusion of other causes of weight loss or vomiting," a nutritional and psychosocial assessment, how severe any malnutrition is, and "evaluation of medical complications and comorbidities" (SAHM, 2022).

In plain terms, a parent can usually expect the doctor to:

• talk with your teen, and with you, about eating, mood, exercise, and the changes you've noticed, often seeing your teen alone for part of the visit;
• check vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature, and look at your teen's growth over time;
• order blood tests, and sometimes a heart tracing called an electrocardiogram (ECG);
• ask about other concerns, like anxiety, depression, or substance use, that often come along with eating disorders.

What you need from the visit is a clear sense of whether your teen is medically stable, what the doctor is worried about, and who you should call next.

Who is on an eating disorder treatment team?

An eating disorder treatment team usually includes a medical provider, a therapist, and a dietitian working together, with a psychiatrist involved for some teens. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), in guidance last updated in 2018, describes treatment as "usually" requiring "a team approach, including individual therapy, family therapy, working with a primary care physician, working with a nutritionist, and medication" (AACAP, 2018). SAHM adds that adolescents are "best managed by a multidisciplinary team, with the medical provider an essential member" (SAHM, 2022).

The doctor keeps track of your teen's physical health, the therapist works on the thoughts, feelings and family patterns around eating, and the dietitian helps with nutrition and meal planning. A doctor can discuss whether medication fits, often for anxiety or depression that comes alongside the eating disorder.

What is family-based treatment?

Family-based treatment (FBT) is an outpatient approach for teens in which parents take an active, temporary role in helping their teen eat, with a therapist guiding the family, and control is handed back to the teen as they recover. In the description used in a 2010 clinical trial, FBT has three phases: in the first, the therapist works to "absolve the parents from the responsibility of causing the disorder" while parents take charge of helping their teen eat; in the second, parents "transition eating and weight control back to the adolescent in an age appropriate manner"; and the third focuses on a healthy relationship between the teen and their parents (Lock et al., 2010).

That trial, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, compared FBT with an individual therapy approach for 121 adolescents ages 12 to 18 with anorexia nervosa. Both treatments led to considerable improvement and were similarly effective at the end of treatment, while FBT was more effective at helping teens reach full remission at the 6- and 12-month follow-ups. SAHM now describes FBT as "a first-line outpatient psychological treatment for adolescents with AN," meaning anorexia nervosa (SAHM, 2022), and NIMH says research suggests family-based treatment can improve outcomes, "particularly for adolescents" (NIMH, 2024).

FBT asks a lot of parents, including time at home around meals, and it isn't the right fit for every family or every type of eating disorder, so a treatment team can explain what they recommend for your teen and why.

What are the levels of care for eating disorders?

Eating disorder care ranges from weekly outpatient appointments to round-the-clock care in a hospital, and SAHM notes that "most AYAs with restrictive EDs can be managed as outpatients," meaning most adolescents and young adults (SAHM, 2022). The table below compares the main levels in general terms.

The right level is a decision for your teen's doctor and treatment team, and it often changes as a teen improves. Our pages on levels of care explained and how to know what level of care your teen needs cover these options across mental health conditions, and our guide to how insurance works for teen treatment explains what to ask your plan.

When might a teen need to be hospitalized?

A teen with an eating disorder may need to be hospitalized when their body is not coping safely, when they can't eat enough to stay safe at home, or when outpatient treatment hasn't been enough. The AAP notes that when the effects on the body are severe, a teen "may need to be hospitalized" (AAP HealthyChildren.org, 2025), and SAHM lists the reasons doctors consider, which in general terms include:

• heart rate, blood pressure, or temperature that are unstable or too low, or changes in heart rhythm;
• dehydration or abnormal blood chemistry;
• refusing food altogether;
• eating or purging behaviors that can't be safely managed at home;
• growth and development that have stalled;
• outpatient treatment that isn't working;
• another serious condition, such as severe depression or a safety concern, that makes outpatient care unsafe (SAHM, 2022).

Doctors make these decisions using specific measurements, and a parent doesn't need to know them to act, since your job is to get your teen seen and to call 911 if something looks like an emergency.

What should parents do next?

Parents should call their teen's doctor this week and use the visit to get a clear next step, whether that's a referral, a specialist team, or more urgent care. This guide can help you understand the process, but only a doctor or licensed professional can evaluate your teen and recommend treatment.

This week: call your teen's doctor or pediatrician, describe the changes you've seen (our guide to changes parents often notice first can help you put them into words), and ask for an appointment within days. At the visit, it helps to ask whether your teen is medically stable, who should be on the treatment team, whether FBT or another approach makes sense, and what level of care the doctor recommends.

For support along the way: the nonprofit ANAD runs a free eating disorders helpline that, in its own words, "provides emotional support and referrals." A helpline is not a crisis line, so use 911 or 988 in an emergency. If your teen's body image is tangled up with what they see online, our guide on how social media shapes the way teens see themselves may help alongside treatment.

Now, in an emergency: call 911 or go to the emergency room if your teen faints, has chest pain, seems confused, or is too weak to get through ordinary activities. Our guide to the emergency room and crisis options explains what to expect. If your teen talks about hurting themselves or not wanting to be alive, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or call 911 if they are in immediate danger, and see our page on crisis options for parents. The rest of our eating disorders guide is there when you need it.

This article shares practical guidance for parents and is not medical advice. We're not clinicians or doctors. If your teen is struggling, contact a licensed mental health professional or your teen's doctor, and if you have a serious concern about their safety, call 911 or call or text 988. Editorial standards