Father Hunger revisited: fathers, global girls, and eating disorders

Abstract

Father Hunger remains an issue for clinical examination and research, especially in the field of eating disorders. For far too long, eating disorders have been seen as ‘women's issues’, and fathers have been excluded or marginalized in the treatment process. As eating disorders spread across the globe, affecting women of all ages, ethnicities, and cultures, the field must educate and enlist fathers in understanding their role in their children's lives, especially the influence they have on a daughter's body image, self-confidence, and health. Fathers have the potential to both contribute to a daughter's unhealthy attitudes to her body and to food, as well as to promote recovery. Facing the crisis of an eating disorder offers the opportunity to men to become closer to their daughters and families, to provide support and validation during treatment and beyond, and to be a much-needed resource to today's global girls, challenging contemporary culture's objectification and idealization of thinness for women, ...