Malena Ernman has opened up about her 17-year-old daughter and the disease that left her facing extended periods away from school. According to the Independent, Greta was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome following time with food restriction. Her daughter suffered with eating disorders during her early teens which led to the worsening of the condition.
In an extract from her new book Our House is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis, Malena explained that issues for the climate change champion started six years ago.
At the time, Greta was just 11.
Malena wrote: “She cried at night when she should be sleeping.
“She cried on her way to school.
“She cried in her classes and during her breaks, and the teachers called home almost every day.”
She added: “She was slowly disappearing into some kind of darkness and little by little, bit by bit, she seemed to stop functioning.”
Malena said this period of depression came around the same time as Greta’s eating habits began to change.
She and her husband Svante then began documenting exactly what the youngster was eating.
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Her mother added: “We explained to our daughter that we have to start preparing ourselves for a stay at the hospital, where it’s possible to get nutrition and food without eating, with tubes and drips.”
It comes after US locals turned on a local artist who wanted to create a mural to Greta in North Dakota.
Artist Shane Balkowitsch, had proposed to the Renaissance Zone Authority in North Dakota, an idea to install a mural of Ms Thunberg in the states capital city, Bismarck.
The location was on the south side of the Brick Oven Bakery building.
But following backlash online, the mural was abandoned.