You will have been informed by your health care professional if you need to take the re-introduction of nutrition at a slower pace at first to manage this risk. Specific advice on the re-introduction of nutrition will have been given to you, and should be followed.

The meal plans listed below are designed to be used as a guide to support you to know how much your young person will need to eat over a whole week, to enable them to first stabilise, then restore their weight back to within a healthy weight range.  For young people entering the service, who are already within a healthy weight range, then weight stabilisation will be a first initial treatment goal.

The meal plans will show you one way of achieving a balanced nutritional intake. The information is based on the population demographic in Dorset, however can be adapted to your own family’s eating routines, and cultural needs.

Each young person’s energy needs will vary depending on their:

  • age
  • sex
  • starting weight
  • how much activity they are doing.

Weekly weight monitoring will also help to guide you with whether they’re having enough nutrition to restore or stabilise their weight.

While we have provided the meal plans here to initially guide you with food choices, during treatment support will be given to build confidence back in responding to hunger cues, working towards normalising eating patterns, and regaining confidence with regular, balanced eating approaches for overall wellbeing. 

Re-establishing normal eating 

Restoring to a healthy body weight 

Maintaining good nutrition