Lovato was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico on August 20, 1992, and raised in Dallas, Texas.[1] She is the daughter of Dianna Hart de la Garza (born Dianna Lee Smith) and Patrick Martin Lovato.[9] Her ancestry includes Mexican, Irish, Italian, and English roots.[9][10][11][12] She has an older sister, Dallas Lovato, and a younger half-sister, Madison de la Garza, from her mother's re-marriage.[1] Her mother was a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and country music recording artist.[13] Lovato began playing piano at the age of seven.[14] Lovato also began her acting career at the age of seven on the children's television series Barney & Friends as Angela, appearing in seasons seven and eight alongside long time friend Selena Gomez.[15] In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Lovato revealed going through painful experiences with bullying in the seventh grade.[16]
Lovato stated in an interview with 20/20 in 2011 that she had had a "really unhealthy relationship with food" since age 8 due to bullying experienced as a child, and self-mutilated her wrists to cope with her emotions and depression since age 11.[17] In an interview with Fabulous Magazine UK, she stated, "They called me a whore and told me I was fat and ugly. I shouldn't have listened, but I took it to heart and it hurt. I thought maybe I didn't have friends because I was too fat," she remembers. So she starved herself, and anything she did eat, she threw up again. Within six months she had lost over 2st (28 lbs) and weighed 6st 4 lb (88 lbs) - unhealthy for her 5 ft 2in height. "I'd make myself sick up to six times a day," she says. "My mom was worried, but because I was going through puberty I was having growth spurts so she assumed that was why I was thinner."[18] According to Lovato, the bullying was so bad that one day, in a fit of frustration and distress, she requested her mom give her a home-schooled education.[19] Lovato earned a high school diploma through homeschooling in April 2009.[20] Lovato later became a spokesperson for anti-bullying organization PACER and appeared on America's Next Top Model[21] and CNN to speak out against bullying