World Eating Disorders Action Day

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…

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,…

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.…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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！）

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…

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…

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…

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…

By Marita Cooper, Australia   Before starting out in the eating disorder world, I worked in developing anxiety prevention protocols and promoting that buzzword “resilience” in children and adolescent mental health. It was a…

By Eva Musby, UK My favourite word in “Eating Disorders World Action Day” is “Action”. There are places in the world where the action already taken needs to be celebrated and used to inspire…

By Valerie Di Mascio, Canada As a teenager, I struggled with anorexia but was never diagnosed. At the time, I could not see that my eating behaviours were a problem, and therefore I never…

Константин Рыжков, Россия Я, как врач, столкнулся с проблемой нарушения пищевого поведения в 90х годах– сразу после распада СССР. По роду своей профессиональной деятельности я консультировал, лечил и поддерживал пациентов с нарушением пищевого поведения…

By Konstantin Ryzhkova, Russia As a physician, I faced challenges with various eating disorders in the 1990s, immediately after the collapse of the USSR. On account of my professional activity I provided consultations, treatment…

By Jamie Bushell, USA As a new(ish) member of the eating disorder recovery community, I feel a multitude of emotions contributing to the World Eating Disorders Action Day’s blog, including fear, courage, vulnerability, gratitude,…

By Chevese Turner, Founder, President, CEO of BEDA, USA The Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) is a proud partner in support of World Eating Disorder Action Day #WeDoAct. BEDA leadership believes in this incredibly…

By Patricia Colli, Philadelphia, PA, USA Eating disorders are a mental health issue with physical manifestations – and one that has been stigmatized and shamed, swept under the carpet. It’s the illness that most…