In the News
Eating Disorders Set to Claim Ontario's Youth in Record Numbers
Toronto - January 29, 2002. Fearful statistics of 27% of Ontario adolescents engaged in dangerous weight-loss practices don't seem to have made much of a dent in myths about food and weight.
A recipe for discontent, pain, fear and longing can be found peppering the media. The glorification of thinness as the marker for self-control, accomplishment and happiness is everywhere. These are the mythical images of success and happiness that help to keep 80% of teen girls unhappy with their bodies and weight, regardless of whether they are "under" or "normal" weight.
"Countering these messages can be difficult: they are so embedded in our everyday language and belief systems," comments Merryl Bear, Director of the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC). Research has found that 35% of "normal" dieters go on to develop severe food and weight preoccupation, with the outcome being anorexia or bulimia for many.
Beyond Denial: Identifying and coping with disordered eating is an Eating Disorder Awareness Week (February 3-9, 2002) panel discussion, drawing on the expertise of local professionals and activists engaged in the debates on body image and disordered eating. The event is co-sponsored by the National Eating Disorder Information Centre and the St. Lawrence Centre Forum. Various perspectives on healthy weights, healthy body image and the precursors to eating disorders will be addressed. Issues specific to groups traditionally invisible in the debate, such as gay men, men, women of colour and fat individuals, will be explored.
- Anorexia Nervosa accounts for 12 times more deaths amongst adolescent girls than the combined death rate for all other causes.
- Eating disorders represent the third most chronic condition in adolescent females.
- As many as 15% of college women suffer from Bulimia Nervosa.
- 27% of Ontario girls 12-18 years engage in highly problematic food and weight control behaviour, with 15% of them predicted to develop clinical eating disorders.
- Research shows that 35% of "normal" dieters will go on to develop severely disturbed food and weight attitudes and behaviours.
- Girls who smoke to suppress their appetites are the highest group of new nicotine addicts.
It's not our bodies that need changing. It's our attitudes. Isn't it time to act?