Overview

Pediatricians and primary care providers (PCPs) are the first-line clinicians for children, adolescents, and young adults. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders within this population is high, with depression, anxiety and ADHD being most common. The morbidity and mortality of these disorders is significant, however they remain under-treated. Given the limitations of referral to specialty care, PCPs are tasked with managing these illnesses. Both in our experience working in a consultation center and based on the literature, PCPs face many barriers to doing so, including limitations in knowledge about and comfort in prescribing psychiatric medications.

Eating Disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, ARFID and rumination disorder (among others) are a group of disorders with significant lifetime morbidity and mortality. The mean age of onset of the most common eating disorders is in adolescence, and they have increased incidence in groups of chronically medically ill children and other vulnerable populations. These disorders often present to the primary care clinician with physical symptoms or unexplained weight loss. The primary treatment of eating disorders is medical and behavioral. Thus it is of great importance that the primary care provider be able to accurately identify these illnesses, initiate appropriate monitoring, and refer for evidence-based treatment.

To Register

Click on the link to register https://forms.office.com/r/udZqybWg8R

Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, the participants should be able to:

• Effectively screen and diagnose eating disorders in the primary care setting
• Identify the signs, the potential medical complications, and the appropriate treatments for each type of eating disorder
• Outline the behavioral and medical evidence-based treatments for eating disorders