National Eating Disorders Awareness Week will take place from February 26 through March 3 this year, and Eating Disorders News won't miss the opportunity to raise awareness about this insidious disorder.
The theme of this year's event is "Everybody Knows Somebody," because the incidence of these disorders has been rising steadily since the first half of the last century, to the point that it's likely that everyone knows someone who has been affected by anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder or Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS).
Consider:
• As many as ten million females and one million males in our country are fighting an eating disorder.
• Eating disorders are more prevalent than Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, yet receive a fraction of the research dollars that those better-known diseases receive.
• For females between the ages of 15 and 24 who suffer from anorexia, the mortality rate for their illness is 12 times that of all other causes of death.
• Despite significant advances in our understanding of the genetic, biological and environmental underpinnings of eating disorders, sufferers are still stigmatized, mistakenly blamed for indulging in a problem of the weak-willed, the idle class, or the spoiled.
Please register for NEDAW to find out how you can get involved, look for events and speakers in your region, and learn more about eating disorders and how to prevent and fight them.
Stay tuned for my upcoming interview with childhood eating disorders expert Dr. Ovideo Bermudez on the dramatic rise in hospitalizations for children under 12 suffering from eating disorders, and what you can do to counteract this trend.
Nutritionist Marcia Herrin and Nancy Matsumoto, co-authors of The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders, Gūrze Books. Marcia is also author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders.