Childhood Eating Disorders Blog

Even though this message is blazoned across The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) homepage, few people understand this very important fact. Too often, anorexics, (not to mention bulimics and binge eaters) are blamed for their own illnesses, and have to bear the unfair judgments of other people on top of the intense pain, loneliness and hopelessness that go with the disease.

So I was happy to see findings of a study released today showing that people with anorexia are less likely to be blamed for their illness when the biological and genetic underpinnings of their disorder are explained. 

Author Michele A. Crisafulli, who published the study as an honors undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, hopes that her finding will help “decrease the blame-based stigma that is associated with the disorder.”

The study will be published Jan. 9, 2008, in the online version of the International Journal of Eating Disorders, and appear later in the print version of the journal.

Dr. Cynthia Bulik, one of the great researchers in the field, head of UNC’s eating disorders program and the senior author of the study (You might have read her book, Runaway Eating: The 8-Point Plan to Conquer Adult Food and Weight Obsessions) noted, “There is a lot of false information about anorexia nervosa disseminated in pop culture. This study suggests that even a nugget of accurate biological information can influence how health care professionals perceive the illness.” 

Let’s keep spreading the word. Anorexia is hard enough to beat without feeling blamed for getting it as well.

Be well,

Nancy

Dear Reader

Just last week, during the course of my reporting, I met an inspiring man named Buddy Howard. Buddy’s daughter Stephanie nearly died from anorexia at age 11, but with the help of the entire family, some great doctors at Johns Hopkins and Duke, and four years of hard work on Stephanie’s part, she overcame her disorder.

In part to pay back the profession that had saved his daughter’s life and also to help other suffering families, Buddy launched a fundraiser for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). Buddy had learned from NEDA CEO Lynn Grefe that she needed $150,000 to upgrade the organization’s outdated computers and other electronic equipment. In response Buddy launched his “Dad’s Campaign for Technology,” figuring that often dads are not as closely involved in eating disorders treatment as they should or would like to be. Raising money was one way they could pitch in.

 Buddy launched his campaign on Father’s Day 2007, and already has raised over $90,000 of his $150,000 goal. Buddy has been creative in his fundraising efforts. The latest example came when Stephanie announced that her New Year’s resolution for 2008 was to stop eating fast food.

If you have had a child with anorexia you know this is not a statement that would make you happy. Buddy told me that his daughter’s declaration hit him like a punch in the solar plexus. He felt a wave of fear: was his daughter entering dangerous, eating-disordered territory again?

Buddy and his family did increase their watchfulness over Stephanie, and their support of the balanced eating patterns she had adopted in order to get well. Buddy also realized that fast food companies could benefit from the lesson he had learned, which is that there are no good foods and bad foods. Contrary to what we are told by the “food police,” Stephanie’s treatment and recovery had taught their whole family that healthy eating is all about balance. To shun or fear ”unhealthy” foods like a burger and fries, for those who are genetically susceptible to eating disorders, could set a person up for eating problems, or a relapse into them.

So Buddy fired off half a dozen letters to fast food companies, including McDonald’s and Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, among other fast food restaurants. He told McDonald’s how thrilled he was when his anorexic daughter learned how to eat like a normal teenager. “Miraculously, she actually savored your Quarter Pounders,” he wrote. “I could not have been prouder.”

Buddy’s idea is to get fast food companies to join forces with NEDA to help get the message out that it’s not about banning junk food — this message can actually be dangerous to some people, like Stephanie — but to promote balanced eating, where even the occasional burger and fries is okay. No word yet on whether the companies Buddy has approached will step up to the plate to donate money to NEDA and try to get this message out, but it’s great to see a person who is really getting involved and trying to do something about the epidemic of eating problems that we are seeing today.

If you would like to get involved or donate to Buddy’s campaign, please click on “Dad’s Campain for Technology.”

Be well,

Nancy