Eating Disorders: Treatment and Prevention

Continuing with the theme of eating disorders this week, we will be talking about different treatment and some preventions that are being made globally to help those with eating disorders.

Much like other mental illness, behavioral problems, and addiction treatment people suffering from this disease can utilize any modality of treatment (i.e. individual and group therapy). However, there are two leading types of therapy that are used most in treating eating disorders. The first, FBT, or Family Based Treatment. There was a study that was published in October 2010, that showed that "more than 50 percent of patients receiving family based treatment (FBT) were in full remission after a year-long treatment period, compared to 23 percent of those receiving adolescent-focused individual therapy (AFT). After a year of follow-up, only 10 percent of patients who achieved remission during family based treatment relapsed, compared to 40 percent of AFT subjects", as reported by University of Chicago. That is though working with the adolescent and young adult population, what about the adult population? It appears from my research on the topic while adults who do suffer from it, the majority of the population who is Dx with an eating disorder are adolescents and young adults, 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.8. Quite alarming...

Another well known and adopted from of treatment is the use of Art therapy either in individual counseling or group therapy. Art therapist helps the patient to become creative and express themselves through a painting, or sculpting. Not only is the activity that they are involved with potentially soothing, it will allow the therapist to get a glimpse of how they are reacting and feeling through the pictures and the non-verbal communication. During these sessions, art therapist promote finding new ways of nurturing themselves rather than hurting their bodies.

Last week was a big week in the world of eating disorders and prevention. The fashion world has always been under a microscope regarding models and their health. Last Thursday as reported by Latina.foxnews.com that "19 editors of Vogue magazines around the world made a pact to have healthy models on their pages, according to a Conde Nast International...Vogue believes that good health is beautiful. Vogue Editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the well-being of their readers," said Conde Nast International Chairman Jonathan Newhouse in a statement...Models' health - and especially their weight - has been a lightning rod the past few years, especially after the death of two models from apparent complications from eating disorders in 2006-07."  

At the end of march, Israeli lawmakers have passed legislation "that requires that male and female models in Israel must have a body mass index (or BMI, a measure of weight proportionate to height) of no less than 18.5—a standard used by the World Health Organization—or a note from a doctor saying they are not underweight before they can be hired for a modeling job. A six-foot-tall model, for example, must weigh no less than 136.5 pounds. The legislation also bans use of models who "look underweight," and creators of ads must disclose whether they used Photoshop or graphic programs to manipulate images to make the models look skinnier...Lawmakers are hoping the measure encourages a healthier body image among teens and fights the spread of eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia. According to a study cited by the Associated Press, 2 percent of girls aged 14 to 18 in Israel have eating disorders", as reported by Yahoo! news.

A scary but interesting stat that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness...

Happy Thursday!

YES