In the News
Eating Disorders at an All-Time High: Help Targets the Most Vulnerable
Canadian youth are suffering from eating disorders and food and weight preoccupation in record numbers, according to reports in the latest Canadian Medical Association Journal. Frighteningly high numbers of 12- to 14-year-old girls engage in harmful behaviours in desperate and futile attempts to take control of their weight. By the age of 15 years, disordered eating attitudes and behaviours are as frequent as those generally found amongst older high-risk groups.
Youth, like the rest of us, are flooded with information telling them that they can shape their lives by shaping their bodies. For those who are vulnerable, and displace unhappiness and conflict onto their bodies, taking control of food may seem the only way to take control of their lives. This control usually takes the form of dieting and/or over-exercise, both of which can lead to eating disorders.
In order to provide a source of information and referral to individuals suffering from disordered eating, their parents and friends, health-care workers and educators, the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) is establishing a toll-free telephone line, beginning 1 October 2001. "We can be part of the solution," says Merryl Bear, Director of NEDIC.
Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health, this pilot project will deliver services to all who call concerned about food and weight issues. NEDIC urges all who are concerned about their attitudes and behaviour around food and weight, or that of a loved one, to call 1-866-NEDIC-20.