A recent study conducted by Renee Goodwin, a researcher at the Northwestern University Medical Center, found that women who had been hospitalized for anorexia or bulimia had less intimate relationships with their fathers than women without eating disorders. Goodwin reported that, among eating-disordered women, “the father-daughter relationship is unsatisfactory, not because the father is never around . . . but when he is around, he monitors her actions while he avoids her emotionally and refuses to accept her.” Goodwin also noted that the fathers of women with eating disorders tended to be critical of their daughters’ weight and appearance.

Goodwin’s findings are part of a growing body of research which suggests that families are a significant influence in whether or not children develop eating disorders. In families where one or both parents are abusive, for example, the child is likely to...