Weight Goals in Teen Eating Disorder Treatment: Clinical Nuance

Key points

Initial goal weights are early benchmarks, not final destinations.

Weight goals shift as recovery unfolds and functioning becomes more stable.

Goal-setting is individualized and shaped by a careful and nuanced process.

One of the most confusing parts of anorexia treatment for patients and families is setting a goal weight. People often imagine that the treatment team selects one exact number that represents recovery and that this number is set at the start and remains fixed.

In practice, we establish an initial goal weight as a first benchmark so we can see how the body responds when consistent nourishment resumes. This early number is not final at all. It is a starting point. And because getting weight restoration right is critically important to treatment outcome, it is w