I receive a 13-year-old girl, Cécile (whom I will name for the article), who came with her mother and her older sister to “lose weight”.

As I ask the first few questions, the mom tells me that her daughter has a "weight problem."

So I turn to the girl and ask her: “What do you expect from me? Quite simply, she replies: “I want to lose”. I then goes on: “How important for you to lose? And she replies that she wanted to feel good. And I continue: “what does that mean? « 

« Hmm well in my head well in my body, at school they laugh at me…. and the words gave way to tears, causing her mother's to flow as well.

Shocked, she admits to me that she did not think that her daughter was experiencing this situation so badly.


I ask to consult the weight curve in the health record. Something I do systematically to study the history of the weight of children and teenagers. Mom hadn't thought to bring it and brought it to me the next time.


Indeed, at the next consultation, they come back with the notebook. I open it to the growth chart page and see that the girl is off the weight chart at age 10. But the curve was already increasing from the age of 7 years.

At that moment, showing them the curve and the number 7, I ask them: “what happened when Cécile was 7 years old? “ 

A silence invades the mother, trying to remember the past years.

A silence broken by the young girl: “I know, isn't it when you got divorced? “ 


There followed 45 minutes of discussion. 45 min which made it possible to highlight this event badly experienced by the young girl, and which explains her weight gain.


Nobody, neither me nor the young girl nor the mother, expected to discover all this when opening the health record. It's as if we had opened the door and we had "finally" watched how Cécile, the last of the family, lived her last 6 years.


At each consultation we go on an adventure, to discover, we never know what to expect.

But each time it is a human and enriching encounter for us.


Thus, food can be an emotional refuge. It is important not to underestimate its comforting power, especially in such situations, and consult a specialist early (psychologist, nutritionist, or other) in order to learn how to manage your emotions and avoid sinking into emotional food dependence. .