Beth Ayn Stansfield, of Virginia, was excited when her preteen told her she wanted to start running together.
"Initially, she came home from school one day, middle school, and announced that she just wanted to get healthy and that she was going to go on a diet," Stansfield said. "At that time, I didn't give it much thought because I was on the South Beach diet."
Stansfield enjoyed bonding with her daughter, Carly, through food and exercise, especially working out together as a way to have fun and relieve stress. But she soon realized that for Carly, "it started to become extreme." At first Carly eliminated sweets. Then she cut out all carbs. Stansfield then noticed her daughter sometimes skipped meals altogether.