There is a lot of stigma and misinformation surrounding eating disorders, and I imagine the biggest misconception about eating disorders is that it’s somehow the patient’s fault…But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Since this week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, I thought I would dedicating this post to providing as much information and facts about this disease as possible.
Mission: Our aim of NEDAwareness Week is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment. Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses — not choices — and it’s important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviors that shape the disorder.
This year, NEDA asked everyone to do just one thing to help raise awareness and provide accurate information about eating disorders.
So how do we turn the mass of misinformation around? We educate ourselves. We learn what the latest research has to say and listen to the voices of recovery. We keep our ears, eyes, minds, and hearts open. And once we have educated ourselves, we talk.
Here are some the the facts and statistics about eating disorders.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 – 10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30 – 40% ever fully recover
The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15 – 24 years old.
20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems
In honor of NEDA Week, I wanted to talk about the common obstacles on the road to eating disorder recovery and how individuals can overcome these obstacles.
If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, know that you can absolutely recover. It’s normal to experience setbacks and challenges. Everyone does.
Here is a very informative video about the facts about eating Disorders, with Lynn Grefe, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association…
Are your kids drinking enough water? Is it really that big of a deal if they’re not? The answers may surprise.
[For the sake of this post, when I use the word child I am referring to children as young as 2, and as old as 19.]
We all know that our bodies require a lot of water, and living without it for even just a few days can be life threatening. But the implications of even mild dehydration can not only be serious, but it can often go unrecognized. Here are a few examples…
Does your child seem more tired than other children his/her age?
Is your child finding it more difficult of concentrate on school work?
Does your child complain about headaches or muscle weakness?
Each of the above problems can be associated with your child not drinking enough water. Your child could also suffer with an impairment of their cognitive and mental abilities as well, simply because they have become mildly dehydrated. It’s a much bigger deal than parents realize.
What is even more important than sunscreen and eating healthy in the summer?
Answer: Staying hydrated.
Our bodies are made up of about 65% water, and in the summer we are constantly being depleted of it. On a hot summer day, it doesn’t take long for dehydration to set in, and that can quickly become dangerous (even deadly).
Ironically, the summer is also a time when people are less likely to realize they are becoming dehydrated. We find ourselves frolicking on the beach or enjoying a day at the amusement park, and we totally forget about stopping to hydrate.
The best way to prevent yourself and family from suffering the harmful effects of dehydration is to plan ahead, especially if you will be away from your home.
Here’s what I do when I’m planning a day at the beach with my kids…
Is it possible to make fitness fun? I think that depends on whether or not you want to have fun. Let’s face it, if you’re not enjoying your workout, you’re going to find excuses not to do it. But working out doesn’t have to be a drag, we all have the power to make our workouts fun. It’s a choice, if you want to make your workout more fun and exciting, take some time to think about ways you can do that.
Thankfully, we are all wonderfully different, and what’s fun for me, might not be fun to you. That’s why the smartest way to make fitness fun, is to make it your own. If you love the outdoors and wonder why you hate your time on the treadmill, maybe you should try taking a walk on the beach or in a park instead. Do you hate to workout because it’s the only time during the day you can catch-up on your favorite television shows? Well, instead of being a couch potato, get a piece of exercise equipment that you can put in front of the television. Watch your shows and burn calories at the same time.
What ever reason you have for not being able to enjoy your workout, take some time to think of ways to make it more fun for yourself. Here are some tips I have for making fitness fun…
Did you see the headlines linking sunscreen to skin cancer? Are you feeling confused about how to protect yourself and family from the dangers of sun exposure? These stories stem from a report by the EWG (Environmental Working Group). Many of these “fear driven” headlines would lead you to believe that it might be more dangerous to use sunscreen than not. Let me assure you, it is still best to use sunscreen, but you should use it wisely.
A statement from The American Academy of Dermatology says, “scientific evidence supports the beneficial effects of sunscreen” and sunscreen is “an important tool in the fight against skin cancer.”
It seems like a real shame to me that these reports are coming out now, at the beginning of the summer season, when we should all be doing everything we can to protect ourselves and our families from the dangerous effects of the sun. We need to take every measure possible to reduce our risk for developing skin cancer, and using sunscreen is still the first line of defense.
One thing you don’t want to do is buy into claims of 50, 80, and up to 100 SPF. These claims lead consumers into a false sense of security. And many people believe that if they use these high SPF sunscreens, they can put it on once and be protected for the entire day. This is not true.
I contacted the American Cancer Society for a comment. Here is the statement they sent me, from Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, Deputy Chief Medical Officer…
National Public Health Week: Can We Become A Healthier Nation?
I think many people living in the United States would be surprised to know that we are not one of healthiest nations in the world. Not even close.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) would like to change that, but they can’t do it alone. So during the first week of April, the APHA would like to bring more awareness to public health, and offer ways that we can all help this country become a healthy nation.
While the United States spends more on health care than any other nation in the world, it lags behind many developed nations in important health measures. Compared with other developed nations, the United States has relatively low life expectancy, high infant mortality rates, a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and persistent health inequities.
This is simply unacceptable. Since the early 1900s, APHA has vigorously promoted the need for universal health care coverage. However, while universal access to health care is vital to improving the health of our nation, it is just one element of reforming our health system. In order to more fully and effectively achieve a healthier nation we need to ensure the underlying social and economic conditions that allow individuals and communities to be healthy.
We must shift from a nation solely focused on treating individual illness to one that also promotes population-based health services that encourage preventive and early intervention practices.
What do you think? Can we become a healthier nation? Would you be willing to help us get there?
Have you ever felt like you were addicted to junk food? A shocking new study finds that this can actually happen. Apparently foods high in fat and sugar can be as addictive as cocaine or nicotine. This addictive aspect of junk food can then lead to compulsive overeating and in-turn obesity.
I can certainly see how this could be true. I know I have a terrible time getting off sugar. It usually takes a solid five to seven days of no sugars before I feel like I’m not craving it. It’s hard, but once I get over that hump, I always feel great. But it only takes one bite of a cookie, or one brownie, or one piece of candy, and I am right back where I started…seemingly addicted to sugar. I may have been avoiding sweets for months without any problem, but that one “falling off the wagon” moment sucks me right back into the sugar craving.
a compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful.
Thankfully, I’ve never been addicted to alcohol, drugs, or even cigarettes…But I do have symptoms of withdraw when I try to stop eating sugar, and when I am eating sugar I crave more and more of it (even when I know it is contributing to weight gain, and negative affects on my health). So I guess it does feel like an actual addiction.
I was honored to have a chance to talk with Greg Grunberg (star of the NBC show Heroes) last week about his work to bring more awareness and understanding to epilepsy. Greg, who’s son Jake was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 7, went to the nation’s capital last week for Saturday’s National Walk for Epilepsy. He also met with members of Congress, including Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado (who has a daughter with epilepsy) about bringing more awareness to this disease.
Greg told me that just before his son’s 7th birthday he began having (what he thought were) staring spells. At first Greg and his wife just thought their son was daydreaming, but during his annual check-up the pediatrician discovered that Jake was actually having seizures.
Even though the diagnosis of epilepsy was scary for Greg and his wife, they were determined to find out everything they could and get their son the best possible treatment. And like many parents, they turned to the internet for answers. But what they found was that there was no one-size-fits-all treatment, because there isn’t any one-size-fits-all type of seizure. Greg told me that every seizure is different, and every patient responds differently to medication. Unfortunately, Jake has been found to be in the 25 percent of children that have seizures which are more difficult to treat. And at the age of 13, Jake has already been on many different medications, tried many different treatments, and even has had surgery.
One thing that Greg says he wished he knew earlier on in his son’s diagnosis, was that there is actually a specialized type of neurologist (known as an epileptologist) who specializes in the treatment of epilepsy. For this reason, Greg’s message to parents with a child suffering from uncontrolled seizures is “don’t settle”. He wants parents to seek out a specialist and not to settle for anything less than seizure-free (or at least as close to seizure-free as possible).
To help parents (as well as friends and family) of children with epilepsy, Greg has come together with some of his friends in the entertainment world and he’s created a wonderful interactive website to bring more awareness to this disease. It’s called Talk About It…at TalkAboutIt.org. He also has a great ning site where anyone can go to get information and Talk About It.
Childhood obesity is taking a huge toll on the health our kids. Diseases that in the past have only been seen in adults are (for the first time) being seen in children. And these are serious medical conditions that can potentially reduce the life span of our children by up to 20 years.
It’s clear that something needs to be done to help children make healthier food choices and reduce their risk of life threatening illnesses. Even the First Lady is getting involved, Michelle Obama recently announced her Let’s Move initiative to help solve the epidemic of childhood obesity.
We also need to address the emotional and psychological toll that obesity is taking on our children. Living with obesity can dramatically effect a child’s self-esteem, and in many cases these children can also become severely depressed.
“Overweight kids are more likely to have depression and low self-esteem, to be teased or bullied, and to bully other children,” said Catherine Davis, associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia. “These can be serious problems for these children.”
That’s why it is so important to make sure that while helping our kids get to a healthy weight, we do everything in our power to protect their fragile psyches.
I’ve written several posts on the problems of childhood obesity. Not only are the number of overweight children on the rise, but even more troubling, is the increase of adult diseases these children are developing. Obese children are developing life threatening conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure at an alarming rate. What kind of life expectancy are these kids going to have? In my own experience, I never had high blood pressure until my thirties, but in less than ten years, my high blood pressure has damaged three of the valves in my heart. If this could happen to me in such a short period of time; I can’t even imagine what the long-term effects of high blood pressure will be on obese children. And I don’t think we can afford to wait to find out.
But what can we do?
In the long run, I think it’s going to take both individual changes as well as policy changes to make a real difference in childhood obesity. And I think banning trans fats in prepared foods is a good place to start. But until then – Parents need to know what foods are highest in trans-fat and then avoid them as much as possible.
In a nutshell, trans fat is an issue because it is associated with all kinds of health problems. Trans fat can wreak havoc on your cholesterol levels – increasing your LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) and decreasing your HDL (the “good” cholesterol). A high LDL is a major risk factor for heart disease. HDL picks up excess cholesterol and takes it back to the liver, so higher HDL is a good thing.
Trans fat also increases triglycerides and causes more inflammation. Triglycerides are another kind of fat that may contribute to hardening or thickening of artery walls. Trans fat consumption is associated with an increased risk of stroke and type-2 diabetes.
Here are two links that can help you avoid trans-fats…
My name is Catherine Morgan...I'm a writer, nurse, and mother. I'm also a contributing editor for BlogHer Health & Wellness.
Welcome to my blog...I write a little bit of everything with an emphasis on healthy living, inspiration, nutrition, and health news. I hope you'll find topics that interest you here, and I would love to know what you think in comments. Thanks for stopping by.
