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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a kid, herself, and a friend to the girl your daughter should model healthy eating and body positivity and should not bring up food, dieting, nutrition or anything weight related. The girl is already getting this addressed and, to be a good friend, your daughter should offer support when it is asked for but has no responsibility or ability to actively coach her. [/quote]

My daughter knows that she's not responsible for her friend's eating, but also wants to do what she can to make sure that she doesn't go hungry.  I don't know how to tell her to leave her friend alone when she's starving herself, when in other circumstances, I'm always telling her to be a good friend, to help, be supportive, and so on.  The friend is the one that tends to bring up food and food related things - like all the kids will share or exchange food, and she'd be the one that's 'I can't eat that, that's got xxx calories, or 3 grams of fat' or other comments along those lines.  [/quote]

OP I'm a registered dietitian working with eating disorders and I see a lot of young girls (primarily) like your DD's friend. That she is so young and already talking and displaying like this is very hard to watch. Kudos to your daughter for wanting to be her friend and help her. This is more than your DD should feel responsible for, however. I hope/ assume that the young girl has a therapist working with her and parents/ teachers who are aware of the situation. That is what you should assure your daughter. Agree with the role modeling but please don't put any pressure on your DD to "cure" her or even to have any positive effect; in fact, I hope that you make sure that some of this misguided language does not seep into your own DD's vocabulary. It's a sad and very tricky situation to navigate. [/quote]

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