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Aim: To understand the earliest parent reported signs suggesting their child may have an eating disorder (ED), and to quantify time from symptom onset to specialist assessment. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data derived from parents of 78 young people presenting to a British community ED service who completed a questionnaire asking when they first noticed their child displaying (a) a change in eating pattern, (b) weight concerns, (c) shape concerns. Parents were also asked to describe the first thing they noticed in terms of possible ED symptoms. Results: Mean age was 14.9 (SD: 1.58), 94% were female with diagnoses of anorexia nervosa (n = 50), bulimia nervosa (n = 10) and atypical anorexia nervosa (n = 18). Weight and shape concerns were most often noticed over a year prior to assessment (mean 12.7 months [SD: 12.8] and 13.3 months [SD: 13.2], respectively), with eating pattern change observed a mean of 9.7 months (SD: 7.6) before referral to specialist care. Seven main themes were developed from parents' descriptions of their child's symptoms: (1) eating pattern change, (2) shape concern, (3) weight concern, (4) observed weight loss, (5) binge eating/compensatory behaviours, (6) other mental health concerns and (7) physical symptoms. Conclusions: The most common parental concerns were eating pattern change, specifically their child becoming more rigid/rule‐bound with regard to eating and dietary restraint. Such external changes are likely observed before physical changes such as weight loss, offering potential for early identification by parents, primary care and other professionals, with implications for improved prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Parental involvement is emphasised in treatment guidelines for Eating Disorders (ED). The primary aim of this phase II study was to estimate the impact of a parent group intervention delivered immediately post‐diagnosis on weight gain and ED psychopathology in a cohort of young people referred to a community ED service. A secondary aim was to identify predictor variables for early treatment response in children whose parents attended the programme. Method: Parents of 64 new cases of Anorexia Nervosa (AN; n = 50) and Atypical Anorexia (AAN, n = 14) attended a 6 week parent group intervention in addition to treatment as usual in which patients were weighed and reviewed, but had no other contemporaneous psychological intervention. Age and gender adjusted BMI (%median [m] BMI) and ED psychopathology at baseline, 6‐week and 6‐month follow‐up were analysed to assess weight gain and identify predictors of outcome. Results: The intervention was associated with weight gain and improved ED psychopathology by the end of the programme; these gains were sustained at 6 months %mBMI at 6 weeks was the only predictor of outcome (%mBMI) at 6 months. Conclusions: This preliminary work highlights the positive benefit of an ED focused parent group early intervention that could be further evaluated. Highlights: A parent group intervention for eating disorders (ED) was easy to deliver and uptake was high in a specialist Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders ServiceThe parent group programme delivered early in treatment was associated with weight gain and improved ED psychopathology by the end of the six sessionsLower global Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire score and higher percentage median Body Mass Index (%mBMI) at presentation were associated with improved outcome (%mBMI) at 6 weeks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]