The Penn State Children’s Hospital Approach to Eating Disorders

We understand that an eating disorder is unique to each child and every family. We believe in order to regain full health, you must not only recover physically, but emotionally as well. We also know that recovery never really ends, so we partner with you to help prevent future eating problems and health concerns.

Full Range of Eating Disorder Services

Penn State Health offers comprehensive for children, teens and adults with eating disorders, including

• Intensive outpatient program: For adults 17 and older, our program meets three days a week for three hours and includes compressive therapy including individual and group counseling.
• Adult partial hospitalization program: For adults age 17 and older, our program meets five days a week for seven hours per day and provides more intense group therapy than the outpatient program.
• Partial hospitalization: For children 8 to 17, our program meets five days a week, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the school year and 7 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. during the summer and includes a two-hour school component.
• Binge eating disorder clinic: For teens 12 to 18 years of age, we offer a 15-week program to teach your teen how to have a healthy relationship with food. It combines both individual and group counseling.

Family-Centered Care

We involve the family in treating a child's eating disorder. We believe children heal best when we work together with parents and caregivers, teaching them how to be directly involved in the child's recovery and care.

Why Choose Penn State Children's Hospital for Eating Disorder Care

Penn State Health provides only the best for your child. We are committed to providing only the highest quality treatment and support, focusing on the unique needs of your child - physical and emotional.

Focus on Full Recovery

Our eating disorder specialists combine the expertise of a multidisciplinary team for diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing health management for teens and young adults, focusing on a full recovery. Our goals are to help you:

• Regain full health
• Improve nutrition
• Control unhealthy eating
• Recover mentally
• Prevent future eating problems

Specialists in Binge Eating Disorder

Penn State Health offers the only program in central Pennsylvania to treat binge eating disorder at an early age, offering better lifetime outcomes. Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder and is treatable with the right program of behavior modification and emotional support. We provide care to teens 12 to 18 years of age using a multidisciplinary approach including medical, psychiatric, psychological counseling and nutritional counseling.

More information on eating disorder recovery in children and teens

• The Medical Minute: Spotting the symptoms of an eating disorder
• How Much Do You Know About Eating Disorders
• Healthy Children
• Updates on the Medical Management of Eating Disorders in Adolescents
• Position Paper of the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine: Medical Management of Restrictive Eating Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults
• Adolescent and Young Adult Clinical Care Resources
• Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine – THRIVE Support App (iTunes download)
• Youngwomenshealth.org

Support Groups

If your teen or adolescent needs extra support, our support groups provide our patients and their caregivers an opportunity to connect with others in similar situations. Learn more about support groups offered at Penn State Children’s Hospital.

View Support Groups