Journal of Obesity & Eating Disorders

Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another or Child Abuse – the Case of Anorexia Nervosa (Former “Anorexia by Proxy Syndrome” – a Review and Case Studies)

Introduction: Anorexia by proxy is a very rare and a seldom discussed disorder. The syndrome is a type of the “factitious disorder imposed on another” or as it was formerly known the “Munchausen by proxy” syndrome. The syndrome is on the border with child abuse and best understood via case studies.
Method: An extensive search was performed in PubMed and Google Scholar with the key phrase “ anorexia by proxy ” ; furthermore keywords of “ anorexia ” and “Munchausen” were used as well.
Results: Using various keywords, we found twelve previously published papers in peer-reviewed journals that matched the exact topic of this article; most of them were case studies published from 1985 until 2013. Original reports of three cases are also included from our clinical practice.
Conclusion: Our report reflect some common features such as the extreme low body weight, the direct life threatening situation, the chronic clinical course, the bad outcome and more interrupted therapies with deficient psychotherapeutic compliance in these syndromes. Altogether the role of the family and parents is crucial in anorexia by proxy.

Author(s):

Ferenc Túry, Tamás Dömötör Szalai, Kornélia Szabó and Ildikó Ábrahám

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