In the News
Eating Recovery Center In the News: EverydayHealth.com
Anti-Obesity Ads: How Far is Too Far in Addressing Childhood Obesity?
In her most recent EverydayHealth.com blog posting, Julie Holland examines the issue of campaigns designed to combat childhood obesity rates. While childhood obesity is a serious health concern, are anti-obesity campaigns effective in addressing the issue or do they shame and stigmatize overweight and obese children? Read an excerpt of the article below, or click here to read Julie’s blog post in its entirety.
There’s no argument that childhood obesity is a serious health concern. More than one-third of children ages 10-17 are obese or overweight* and obesity rates among U.S. children grew from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007.**
Obesity is related to more than 20 major chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes, and children who are obese are more than twice as likely to die prematurely before the age of 55 compared to healthy-weight children.***
Education and nutritional intervention is key to combating childhood obesity rates; however, are anti-obesity ads effective in addressing the issue or are they crossing a line into body shaming?
As some of my readers may already know, I struggled with eating disorders from the time I was seven years old through much of high school. From a very young age I battled with negative body image and a low self-esteem; being perceived by my peers as the “fat girl in class” was never easy. This perfect storm of factors triggered an onset of binge eating disorder, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa until I was nearly 20 years old.
Many obesity prevention campaigns promote balance and moderation, practices I agree with and that I think we can all support. However, a recent anti-obesity campaign in Georgia has come under fire for, according to critics, shaming and stigmatizing children who are obese. It probably goes without saying that this anti-obesity campaign hits close to home for me. Although I’ve been in recovery from my eating disorder for 30 years now, maintaining a positive body image and self-esteem is something I work on each and every day. When I see TV ads identifying overweight children as “fat” and placing a negative connotation on that label, I worry about what someone genetically predisposed to an eating disorder might think and feel.
Posted in Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating, Bulimia Nervosa, EverydayHealth.com, General, In the News •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: ModernMom.com
Could Your Weight Loss Resolve have Unintended Consequences?
Could your New Year’s resolution have unintended consequences for your kids? As millions of Americans resolve to lose weight in 2012, parents need to be aware that their new diet and fitness regimens could have a potentially negative outcome – triggering eating disorders or body image issues in their children.
Because children often will mirror their parents, experts urge parents to be mindful with their food- and body-focused words and behaviors while undertaking New Year’s resolutions.
“Children and teens are very susceptible to picking up value judgments about body shape and size,” said Elizabeth Easton, PsyD, clinical director of Child and Adolescent Services at Eating Recovery Center, an international treatment center for anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorders. “If we teach them – through dieting, over-exercise and critiques of our own bodies – that there is a ‘good’ body type, then that is exactly what children will strive for at all costs if they are susceptible to an eating disorder or poor body image.”
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, weight and body consciousness among children begins at very young ages, with research finding that 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat and 46 percent of 9- to 11-year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets.
More than one-third of “normal dieters,” many of whom begin dieting at young ages, progress to pathological dieting, a condition marked by continual dieting and from which 20 to 25 percent of individuals develop eating disorders. When considered alongside a recent Thomson Reuters and National Public Radio poll, which reveals that one-third of Americans have made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight in the last five years, this research illustrates the perfect storm parents can unknowingly initiate by adopting aggressive or unhealthy weight loss regimens.
Read more here on ModernMom.com.
Posted in Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating, Bulimia Nervosa, General, In the News •
Parents’ New Year’s Resolution Weight Loss Behaviors Can Contribue to Eating Disorders in Children
Eating Recovery Center Urges Parents to Model Healthy Behaviors While Tackling Weight Loss and Fitness Goals
As millions of Americans resolve to lose weight in 2012, parents’ new diet and fitness regimens may have an unintended, negative outcome—triggering disordered eating behaviors or body image issues in their children. Because children often will mirror what they observe in their adult counterparts, Eating Recovery Center (www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com), an international center for eating disorders recovery providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder, urges parents to be mindful with their food- and body-focused words and behaviors while undertaking New Year’s resolutions.
“Children and teens are very susceptible to picking up value judgments about body shape and size,” said Elizabeth Easton, PsyD, clinical director of Child and Adolescent Services at Eating Recovery Center. “If we teach them – through dieting, over-exercise behaviors and critiques of our own bodies – that there is a ‘good’ body type, then that is exactly what children will strive for at all costs if they are susceptible to an eating disorder or poor body image.”
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, weight and body consciousness among children begins at very young ages, with research finding that 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat and 46 percent of 9- to 11-year-olds are “sometimes” or “very often” on diets. More than one-third of “normal dieters,” many of whom begin dieting at young ages, progress to pathological dieting, a condition marked by continual dieting and from which 20 to 25 percent of individuals develop eating disorders. When considered alongside a recent Thomson Reuters and National Public Radio poll, which reveals that one-third of Americans have made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight in the last five years, this research illustrates the perfect storm parents can unknowingly initiate by adopting aggressive or unhealthy weight loss regimens.
Eating Recovery Center encourages parents to follow these four tips to model healthy behavior, help their children embrace healthy attitudes about their bodies and minimize the chances that children will adopt negative thoughts and behaviors related to food and body image.
1. Do not diet. Instead, resolve to eat healthier, well-balanced meals. Through their own behaviors, parents can teach children how to focus on moderation without rigidly labeling foods as “good” or “bad.”
2. Shift your perspective on exercise. Instead of looking at exercise as a dreaded weight loss tool, approach it as a fun activity for feeling good and improving overall health. Plan family outings and activities and children will follow their parents’ example.
3. Be aware of comments you make about your body. Children are far more astute than parents may give them credit for, and they often mirror observed behaviors. Offhand comments about having a “fat day,” failing at your weight loss resolution or feeling too snug in an old pair of jeans can have a bigger effect on a developing child’s body image than many may think.
4. Be aware of comments you make about others. Criticizing others for “gaining a few pounds” over the holidays or complimenting someone for resolution-driven weight loss can lead children to believe that there are “good” and “bad” body shapes and sizes.
“Because eating disorders have a genetic component, children with a family history of anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder are particularly susceptible to negative diet- and body-focused words and actions,” explains Dr. Easton. “In these children, seemingly innocent body image comments or dieting behaviors can quickly spiral out of
control.”
Parents are encouraged to seek an eating disorders assessment if they notice troubling food- or body image-oriented behaviors in their children. Recovery is entirely possible with early intervention and proper eating disorder treatment from qualified professionals.
Posted in General, In the News, Press Releases •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: Family Goes Strong
Parents: Important Advice About Your College Student and Eating Disorders
Elizabeth Easton, PsyD, Clinical Director of Child and Adolescent Services at Eating Recovery Center, recently contributed her insights to Family Goes Strong, a website committed to sharing wisdom, research and information relevant to the so-called Baby Boomers, who are increasingly involved in the care of their aging parents while raising their own children. Dr. Easton shared do’s and don’ts for parents that are concerned their college-aged children may have an eating disorder. Read an excerpt of the article below, or view it in its entirety here.
College students have tremendous pressures on them these days. As parents and grandparents we read, hear and worry a lot about binge drinking and drug use on college campuses. There are quieter but equally destructive – in fact, even deadly – ways college students are harming their health as well: eating disorders.
In Parents: 10 Winter Break Warning Signs of Eating Disorders in Your College Students, I shared expert advice on what parents should look out for while your
college students are home for the holidays. Experts stressed that parents and other family members should be “vigilant,” especially with college freshmen.
Here, I’d like to share more expert advice on what to do and say if you suspect a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder — especially a college student coming home for visits. Maybe they are starving themselves with anorexia or bingeing and purging with bulimia. Or both. Whatever disordered relationship they may have with food, it means they are in crisis, in pain, and need your intervention.
Elizabeth Easton, PsyD, is the clinical director of child and adolescent services at Eating Recovery Center. She offers some “dos and don’ts” for parents or other family members who become concerned about a loved one’s eating habits.
As Dr. Easton explains, there are two possible scenarios as your loved one returns home from college for a visit and you suspect an eating
disorder:
Weight Loss and Depression: “Your loved one has lost a significant amount of weight, become very isolative or socially withdrawn and appears more pre-occupied with weight and/or food.”
Obsession with Exercise: “Additionally, there’s a significant change in his or her exercise drive and/or compensatory behaviors (vomiting after eating, abuse of diet pills or laxatives, etc…). These behaviors often mean the person is more entrenched in the eating disorder and is relying on eating disorders behaviors to cope with stress, depression and anxiety.”
Eating Little, and in Ritualized Ways: Maybe he or she is eating a small amount but is cutting it into tiny pieces, eating in some private pattern.
Read more about what parents can do if they observe these signs and symptoms here.
Posted in Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating, Bulimia Nervosa, General, In the News •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: KWGN Denver
Dr. Ken Weiner appeared on KWGN Denver (Channel 2) to discuss how the transition to college is a common time for the development of eating disorders in young adults. He addresses warning signs, how concerned family members can address the issue with their loved ones, and eating disorders treatment resources in the Denver area. Click here to view the segment on KWGN Denver’s website, or simply view the video below.
Posted in About Us, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, General, In the News •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: MomsTeam.com
Eating Disorders: College Athletes at Increased Risk
Research suggests that at least one-third of female college athletes exhibit some form of disordered eating behaviors. In the byline excerpt below, Enola Gorham, Clinical Director of Adult Services at Eating Recovery Center, explains why this phenomenon is so common among college athletes, outlines significant warning signs of eating disorders and offers strategies for parents to intervene and help their children seek treatment. Read the MomsTeam.com byline in its entirety here.
As college freshmen across the U.S. return home for the holidays, thousands of parents will – for the first time – discover eating disorders that developed during their child’s first semester. Because the transition to college is one of the two most common life stages in which eating disorders develop, parents should be vigilant for symptoms of eating disorders as their teens return home for the mid-year break.
For parents of college athletes, this phenomenon should be of particular concern. At least one-third of female college athletes exhibit some form of disordered eating behaviors, according to a 1999 study published by Craig Johnson, PhD, FAED, CEDS, chief clinical officer of the Eating Recovery Center in Denver, Colorado.
For many young adults, the pressures of the first semester of college can create the perfect storm for eating disorders development, and it’s easy for teens to hide behaviors from their families, particularly if they go to school far away from home. Many parents won’t see the outcome of this devastating development until their children return home for winter break.
Dieting to avoid the “freshman 15,” stress from academic and social pressures and anxiety tied to being away from home for the first time are common triggers of first semester eating disorders development. For college athletes, athletic performance pressures and the stress of juggling a full academic load while playing a sport at the collegiate level can exacerbate an already anxiety-ridden situation.
Posted in Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating, Bulimia Nervosa, In the News, Latest Research •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: The Huffington Post
Your Family Tree Can Reveal Your Risk for Eating Disorders
In the latest installment of his blog, Dr. Weiner discusses the genetic link underlying eating disorders, and explains why eating disorders, like heart disease, cancer and obesity, should be among the illnesses we look for in family medical histories. Read an excerpt of the blog post below, or click here to view the article in its entirety at huffingtonpost.com.
It’s not uncommon for individuals to consult their family trees to evaluate their predisposition to various illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and obesity. But a disease that tends to be absent from the checklist of dangerous and highly-inheritable illnesses to look for in family medical histories is eating disorders.
The link between genetics and eating disorders
Most people don’t understand the connection between genetics and eating disorders when, in fact, there is a very strong genetic component to these illnesses.* Research has found that 40 to 50 percent of the risk of developing an eating disorder is based on genetics. Anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by extreme low body weight and a refusal to consume sufficient calories to support bodily functioning, has been found to be as inheritable as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Family studies have also supported the genetic link of eating disorders. Compared with the general population, a woman with a mother or sister who has anorexia is 12 times more likely to develop the disease and four times more likely to develop bulimia nervosa. Twin studies have perhaps shed the most meaningful light on the heredity of eating disorders. Among identical twins, whose genetic makeup is 100 percent the same, there is a 59 percent chance that if one twin has anorexia, the other twin will also develop an eating disorder. Among fraternal twins sharing only 50 percent of their sibling’s genes, the incidence of the illness in both twins was lower but still significant. When one twin has anorexia, there is an 11 percent chance that the other twin will also have the illness.
What exactly do you inherit when it comes to eating disorders?
While research to date has helped bring to light the connection between eating disorders and genetics, there is still much to understand, specifically what is inherited. Studies from both the Maudsley Hospital in London and the University of Pittsburgh suggest that variations in the gene for serotonin receptors may play a role in the development of eating disorders. Abnormal serotonin levels are associated with overall more negative moods and obsessions with perfectionism and exactness.**
Posted in Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Huffington Post, In the News, Latest Research •
Eating Disorders Identified in College Freshmen as They Return Home for Winter Break
Eating Recovery Center Urges Parents to be Vigilant for Eating Disorders Signs
As college freshmen across the U.S. return home for the holidays, thousands of parents will – for the first time – discover eating disorders that developed during their child’s first semester. Because the transition to college is one of the two most common life stages in which eating disorders develop, Eating Recovery Center (www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com), an international center for eating disorders recovery providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia, bulimia, EDNOS and binge eating disorder, encourages parents to be vigilant for symptoms of eating disorders as their teens return home for the mid-year break.
“For many young adults, the pressures of the first semester of college can create the perfect storm for eating disorders development, and it’s easy for teens to hide behaviors from their families – particularly if they go to school far away from home,” explains Bonnie Brennan, MA, LPC, NCC, clinical director of Eating Recovery Center’s Adult Partial Hospitalization Program. “Many parents won’t see the outcome of this devastating development until their children return home for winter break.”
Dieting to avoid the “freshman 15,” stress from academic and social pressures and anxiety tied to being away from home for the first time are common triggers of first semester eating disorders development. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the mean age of eating disorders onset in the U.S. is 19. A 2006 poll of U.S. college campuses conducted by the National Eating Disorders Association found that one in five college students believe that at some point they have suffered from an eating disorder.
To help parents recognize eating disorders in college students and appropriately intervene, Eating Recovery Center highlights five winter break warning signs that may indicate their teen has an eating disorder or could be at risk for developing one:
Noticeable weight loss or weight gain since he or she entered college.
Helping with the preparation of holiday meals but not eating them.
Excessive exercise, even outdoors in poor winter weather conditions.
Withdrawal from family and friends and avoidance of gatherings, even if he or she has not seen loved ones for months.
Discussing college in a “stressed out” or obviously anxious manner or altogether avoiding conversations about school.
“Although parents may be tempted to send their young adult back to school, I strongly urge parents noticing any signs of an eating disorder to actively seek treatment,” explains Brennan. “With eating disorders, early intervention saves lives.”
Parents are encouraged to seek an eating disorders assessment if they notice these or other troubling behaviors in their teens while they are home for winter break. Recovery is entirely possible with early intervention and proper treatment from qualified professionals.
Posted in About Us, Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating, Bulimia Nervosa, General, In the News, Press Releases •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: The Otter Realm
“Maintaining a Positive Body Image”
The insights of Dr. Craig Johnson, Eating Recovery Center’s Chief Clinical Officer, were recently featured in an article by Cal State Monterey Bay’s student-run newspaper, The Otter Realm. The article explores the topic of body image and considerations of college athletes for maintaining positive body image while getting into competitive shape or after leaving their sport. Read below for a short excerpt of the article, or click here to read the article in its entirety.
The media portrays women and have models that are typically 5’11” and weigh around 117 pounds while the average woman is around 5’4” and weighs around 140 pounds. As for college athletes, this ranges because even with being in great shape, the amount of muscle weighs more than fat, so more often than not that number is going to be higher. Coach Figueroa, in charge of the Women’s water polo team here at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) has always said that being safe is important when getting into shape. It is not about the number but it is what YOUR playing weight is. Everyone’s is different and it depends on how you use it to your advantage.
In an article on The Daily News Online, an athlete named Alyssa Kitasoe that attended UCLA describes how the feeling of wearing the UCLA Gymnastics logo made her feel proud and on top. As it is known gymnastics is a sport that is all about being small and light enough to hurl yourself through the air a couple of times and still be able to land on your feet. Kitasoe described how her feelings changed once she quit the sport. Her body image of herself changed and soon she developed bulimia nervosa. “It was like seeing a ghost of yourself, or a monster,” Kitasoe describes. According to experts Craig Johnson and Katherine Beals, at least one-third of female college athletes have some type of eating disorder.
Posted in Bulimia Nervosa, In the News, Latest Research •
Eating Recovery Center In the News: EverydayHealth.com
“Are Parents to Blame for Their Children with Eating Disorders?”
The most recent installment of Julie Holland’s EverydayHealth.com blog addresses this key question. Recognizing that many parents of children with eating disorders wonder about their role in the development of the illness, Julie welcomes insights from Brittany Lacour, LCSW, DAACS, primary therapist at Eating Recovery Center. In the article, Brittany offers suggestions to help families, eating disorders professionals and children and adolescents understand that while it’s natural to look for a “cause,” parents are not to blame for an eating disorder. Read an excerpt of the article below, or click here to view it in its entirety.
Parents help us, teach us, raise us and are integral in forming the person we grow to become. There’s no doubt that children take on a piece of their parents personalities and behaviors when they grow up and take an active role in the world. But how does that translate when a child develops a serious illness or mental health issue? Is it his or her parents’ fault?
Eating disorders leave individuals and families faced with a complex illness that offers little room for logic or reason. The severity of the illness, combined with uncertainty of its origin leaves many of us wondering, “Who’s to blame?” This question becomes especially important when treating children with eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia. Are parents to blame for their child’s disordered eating behaviors?
Although eating disorders are in fact genetic, that doesn’t mean parents are responsible.
Brittany Lacour, LCSW, DAACS, primary therapist at Eating Recovery Center, explains that as humans we look for cause and effect—it’s natural. However, when it comes to an illness, especially a multifaceted illness with genetic, psychological and social roots, this can lead to finger pointing. Often we try to control what’s scary to us; and having a radically ill child or partner is petrifying. If it’s our fault, we then carry the faulty belief that we can “fix” it.
Posted in About Us, EverydayHealth.com, General, In the News •
