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Why World Eating Disorders Action Day?
By Amy Cunningham, Tanzania I write as a person who fought and has survived an eating disorder, as a parent of two children who developed anorexia, and as a public health professional. As an affected…
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Don’t ‘watch and wait’ – ANZAED’s message
By Beth Shelton, President, Australian and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders (ANZAED) Eating disorders affect more than 3 million Australians and 400,000 New Zealanders of all genders, ages, nationalities, abilities, sizes, and racial,…
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Pregnancy and motherhood a minefield for recovering women
By Linda Shanti McCabe, PsyD, USA Pregnancy and early motherhood can be a minefield for women recovering from eating disorders. The hormone changes, body changes, mood changes, sleep changes, and learning curve of early…
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Denmark ED society strives to meet objectives
By Laura Winkler and Ulla Moslet, Denmark The Danish Society for Eating Disorders was founded in 1998 and currently consists of 150 members. The mission of the society is to develop and systematize the knowledge…
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Call to policymakers to include eating disorders on mental health agenda – the United States perspective
By Rachel Presskreischer, MS, LMSW, USA The US mental health policy agenda is dominated by issues of gun safety/gun rights, and the shortage of available psychiatric services around the country. Generally, the mental illnesses addressed…
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I am gay, and I have an eating disorder
By Maxim, Russia My name is Maxim. I’m from Russia. I’m gay and I have anorexia nervosa. I am in my 20s now and I want other guys to like me. I think that…
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I want the ‘luxury’ of recovery from an eating disorder to be available to all
By Carrie Arnold, USA On World Eating Disorders Day, I will probably not be thinking very much about eating disorders. It sounds odd to celebrate a day by doing your best to ignore…
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Sierra Leone to Canada to save a daughter’s life – a family’s quest
By Hanaan Kambo, Sierra Leone As a mother of a child who suffered from Anorexia Nervosa, I know all too well the frustrations, anxiety, anticipation, fall-backs, disappointments, blaming and complete chaos that a family…
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A father speaks – as a child I learnt to hide my eating problems
By James Carey, UK I have had eating issues since being a five year old, my earliest memories are being force fed at primary school because I wouldn’t eat my greens, or certain…
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Share Your Truth, Share the Nine Truths
By Jenni Schaefer, USA One thing is for sure: Ed (aka “eating disorder”) wants to silence you. He might say that your voice doesn’t matter, that you can’t possibly make a difference. But,…
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Where do we go from here? A futurescape of the care of eating disorders
By Eric F. van Furth, PhD, FAED, Netherlands The Problem Both the US and the Dutch healthcare system are rated among the best in the world. However, both mental healthcare systems are systematically flawed.…
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Education and access to basic eating disorders information saves lives
By Lizabeth Wesely-Casella, USA One of the biggest, and possibly most dangerous, misconceptions about eating disorders is that they are only active in young, thin women who are succumbing to a ‘vanity’ illness. The…
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Stop the silence, not a life – plea from Croatia
By Hrvoje Rendulic, Croatia My journey in helping people with ED started in 2000 after I learned there was not a single qualified medical professional nor a clinic specialized in treating people with ED who…
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Look beyond society’s obsession with the ‘thin ideal’ to a biopsychosocial perspective
By Nikki Cook, USA “Wow, you look great!” “You have had three kids?” “Whatever you are doing, it’s working!” I have heard this, and similar comments, countless times throughout my journey with anorexia.…
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Finland’s message: Communication and openness vital to thrive in Eating Disorder field
By Rasmus Isomaa, Finland Finland is undergoing a huge social welfare and health care reform. It is one of the biggest ever administrative and operational changes in Finland. It will impact the jobs…
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Awareness, Understanding, and Action: Call to the Jewish Community on Eating Disorder Awareness Day
By Temimah Zucker, USA The day I accepted that I had an eating disorder was the day it was made clear to me that I was not the only Jewish person in the…
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Gap in Services a Major Issue in Hong Kong
By Daisy Wu, Hong Kong Eating Disorders Association, Hong Kong Hong Kong is a well-developed city which provides relatively well developed healthcare system to guard the basic needs of citizen. The recurrent expenditure…
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How to complete a culturally sensitive feeding and eating disorder assessment
By Deborah R. Glasofer, PhD and Evelyn Attia, MD, USA Eating disorders have long been recognized as ‘culture-bound’ to Western traditions, and thus increasingly well identified and classified in North America, Europe, Australia,…
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Why Eating Disorders are more than a “Western” problem
By Kira Rakova, USA A year ago, while I was in Morocco, I asked a Moroccan woman about eating disorders in the country. After spending time trying to explain what I meant by…
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Dialogue and Collaboration Key to Easing Israeli Toll
By Rachel Bachner, Israel Israel is renowned for its expertise in medical research and treatment, yet when it comes to eating disorders, the need is great and the resources few. The prevalence of…
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How is the Media Affecting our Fight Against Eating Disorders?
By Mélanie Guénette-Robert, Canada For a long time now, eating disorders have been automatically associated with the fashion industry in the minds of many people. Admittedly, it can seem comforting to find a cause,…
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Les médias: agents de changement pour la cause des troubles alimentaires?
Par Mélanie Guénette-Robert, Canada Depuis des lunes, les troubles alimentaires sont, à tort, automatiquement associés à l’industrie de la mode dans l’esprit de bien des gens. Je vous l’accorde, cela peut sembler sécurisant de…
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Patients and Families as Co-Scientists: Capitalizing on Connection and Co-Constructing Answers
By Mary Tantillo, PhD PMHCNS-BC FAED I am honored to be writing in the advent of the first World Eating Disorders Action Day. This day is dedicated to fostering partnerships around the world to…
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“Well, you look great though”: Changing perceptions – The pitfalls of stereotyping how eating disorders “look”
By Diana, USA It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when my eating disorder began. In first grade, I remember feeling embarrassingly fat standing next to my friends on our elementary school stage wearing a…
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“Not underweight. Doesn’t meet criteria”: The Discrimination of Higher Weight Eating Disorder Patients
By Ashley Solomon, PsyD, CEDS, USA “Not underweight. Doesn’t meet criteria.” I’ve heard this statement far too many times to count in my years as an eating disorders specialist, and yet it never ceases…
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一目でわかりますか？
文: 井口(いぐち) 萌娜(もな) BS-Honors, MS 皆さんは、この写真の女性を見て、「あぁ、摂食障害持ちだろうなぁ」と一目でわかりますか？ ほぼ１００%の人が、「いいえ」と答えるでしょう。 彼女の保険会社も、救急車の隊員も、例外ではありませんでした。 でも、不思議ではありませんよね。 彼女、心身ともに健康で、幸せそうに見えませんか？（この写真が、膝を怪我した時に訪れた、救急病院で撮られた、ということを除いては！）
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Do you think this girl has an eating disorder (ED)?
By Mona Iguchi, BS-Honors, MS, Japan Nearly 100% people would say, “No”. So did her insurance company. So did the medics on the ambulance. No wonder though. She looks quite healthy and happy physically…
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Going Forward: Early Recognition Remains Our Best Defense
By Julie O’Toole, MD, MPH, CEDS, USA Though breakthroughs in genetics and epigenetics are opening up new avenues in pediatric eating disorder treatment, there is still no replacement for the insights and observations of…
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Will AN25K become a reality?
By Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD, Sweden/USA Several years ago in Porto at the meeting of the Eating Disorders Research Society, in a moment of extreme optimism, I challenged the eating disorders field to catch…
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My Privilege to Serve and Support Recovery
By Kathy Cortese, LCSW, ACSW, CEDS, USA It was 1989, when I first encountered the formal world of Eating Disorders. I was a clinical social work intern on a psychiatric hospital’s eating disorder unit…
