eating disorders and weigh ins

[alexsupertramp]

I am curious if there is any research that backs daily weigh ins for outpatient clients with ED. I no longer have access to the large databases as when I was a student and was wanting some opinions or thoughts on this subject. My thought is that at times, daily weigh ins could be troubling for the client. While I do realize that checking the person's weight is vital, I don't know if doing it daily would be necessary unless in an inpatient setting. Anyone of any experience in this?

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[shock-me-sane]

just as an opinion, haven't done much eating disorder research (a bit in undergrad), I would think it would be detrimental. What I know, anecdotally, is that it is common to be weighed weekly in inpatient setting. Daily weights fluctuate and I would think it would be distressing to the client to see their weight everyday, especially if it is increasing.

 

[JockNerd]

From my knowledge of personal fitness, daily weighing is a bad system. Your weight fluctuates during the day and day-by-day measurements are almost meaningless and can be VERY disheartening for people. I wouldn't weight myself for any purpose more than once a week.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I am curious if there is any research that backs daily weigh ins for outpatient clients with ED. I no longer have access to the large databases as when I was a student and was wanting some opinions or thoughts on this subject. My thought is that at times, daily weigh ins could be troubling for the client. While I do realize that checking the person's weight is vital, I don't know if doing it daily would be necessary unless in an inpatient setting. Anyone of any experience in this?

It really depends. If the person goes from a residential program to a day program (something like 9am-4pm), I can see how daily weights and vitals may be helpful. Often the loss of some structure with the change can be challenging, and the person's weights / vitals can provide a tip-off in the event that the person doesn't share their struggles with their team. I'd think routine weights / vitals would be more common than daily, but some people need dailies....at least in the beginning.

One thing to consider is visible v. blind weights. Some people prefer blind weights, since knowing the number could be triggering. I've seen some cases that were daily and while it seems like overkill to some people, it really can be helpful, particularly in regard to meal planning and meeting nutritional needs. Often the increase in movement in daily life requires nutritional adjustments, and routine weights may not provide enough data to properly evaluate how the person is doing.

I've seen some cases where the weights and vitals were the smoke that signaled the fire. Fluid loading, binging, purging, restricting, and related behaviors can be tipped by large fluctuations in day to day stats. While in most cases daily weights and vitals may not be required, they often can be valuable data....particularly in the first days/weeks of a step-down program.

 

[Rapunzel]

I haven't looked up the research, but I remember being told that blind weights are better. Weigh the person standing backwards so that they don't see the numbers. Charting the weights could be useful. But I wouldn't want it to be a main focus of treatment most of the time.