Again Alicia refused to eat, and rapidly started losing weight. Her only meal was the vitamin-enriched drink Ensure. The Mitchells tried everything and hospitalized her more than 50 times without success. Many clinics force-feed anorexics until they gain weight. But that often doesn't work once the patient gets home.
Many parents are at a loss.
Their child started out as this straight A, overachieving child. In December 1997, Alicia went to New York City for help from Dr. Ira Sacker, a pediatrician who has been treating eating disorders for 15 years at Brookdale University Hospital. Dr. Sacker does not force-feed his patients. Instead, he works to build their self-esteem and trust so that patients will resume eating on their own. It is not about food at all.