SEATTLE — Feb. 3, 2010 — For Immediate Release — The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) is waging war against eating disorders and unrealistic “body-perfect” ideals – as well as the “secretive and shameful” attitudes held by many people towards these life-threatening illnesses – during the 23^rd annual National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Feb. 21-27.

Themed It’s Time to Talk About it! this year, NEDAwareness Week is the non-profit group’s largest public outreach campaign, held each year to raise consciousness across the country about the potentially life-threatening seriousness of eating disorders and the societal pressures, attitudes and behaviors which contribute to them. Also to spread a message of hope: Help is available, recovery is possible and those affected are not alone in their struggle!

 

Commented Lynn Grefe, CEO of NEDA. “It really is time to talk about eating disorders, because people die, with anorexia having the highest death rate of any mental illness. You wouldn’t be ashamed of developing asthma, diabetes, cancer or hundreds of other medical conditions. The sooner we get people to talk about it, the sooner we can get people to the help they need. It is necessary to educate upcoming generations about the issues that surround and lead to eating disorders. And to do that, we also need to address the societal pressures and the unrealistic images we are bombarded with in the media that have been irrefutably and scientifically proven a contributing factor among people who develop eating disorders, depression and other esteem issues.”

 

NEDAwareness Week 2010 is already generating interest nationwide, with volunteers coordinating events throughout the country using their local media muscle to spread the word about eating disorders. During this week, hundreds of events will be held in communities coast to coast, offering an opportunity for people to gather information and learn how to support those with eating disorders. 

 

Among the events planned: Seminars and workshops on college campuses and in other venues; film festivals; health fairs and screenings; awareness walks; candlelight vigils; fundraisers; artistic performances and Great Jeans Giveways to encourage people to get rid of jeans that don’t fit and to buy jeans that fit the real person. And in downtown Seattle, NEDA Laugh? is being held on Feb. 18, a comedy night benefit for NEDA. 

 

 

Adds Grefe, “You can make a difference. Do just one thing to initiate awareness, education and discussion about eating disorders in your community. Invite a NEDAwareness Week volunteer speaker to your school, work or social group. Distribute NEDAwareness Week posters, pamphlets and informational handouts. Write a letter to praise an ad promoting positive body image or to protest an ad promoting negative body image. Tweet about eating disorders. Put up a link to the NEDA Web site and Helpline. If we all do something, we’ll have a huge impact!”

·         Lynn Grefe, CEO of NEDA.

 

·         Doctors, psychologists & other eating disorder treatment specialists throughout the country.

 

·         Recovered eating disorder patients.

 

·         NEDA Ambassadors: 

 

o        Bradley Bayou — Fashion designer, the creative force behind Bradley Bayou Couture that serves some of Hollywood’s biggest stars and author of The Science of Sexy: Dress to Fit Your Unique Figure with the Style System That Works for Every Shape and Size. Bayou’s daughter Alexis battled an eating disorder.

 

o        Elizabeth Showers – Celebrity jewelry designer and recovered anorexic.

 

o        Emme — Supermodel, TV personality, author, lecturer, clothing designer and women’s advocate.

 

o        Jean Kilbourne, Ed. D. — Author, documentarian and social theorist internationally recognized for her pioneering work on the image of women in advertising. Named by New York Times Magazine as one of today’s three most-popular college speakers, she is the author of Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and producer of the award-winning documentaries Killing Us Softly, Slim Hopes and Calling the Shots.

 

o        Jenni Schaefer — Motivational speaker & author, including the upcoming Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover From Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love With Life (Sept./McGraw Hill)and Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too.

 

o        Jessica Weiner — Jessica Weiner is an “actionist,” author, motivational speaker and advice columnist for Seventeen magazine. She has written three books: A Very Hungry Girl, Life Doesn’t Begin 5 Pounds From Now and Do I Look Fat in This? She is also a global ambassador for the DOVE Self-Esteem Fund.

 

o        Karla Mosley — Actress of stage and screen, (previously portrayed “Christina Moore” on Guiding Light).

 

o        Kristen Moeller — Personal life coach with a masters in counseling, Web talk show host of “What Are You Waiting For?” (which highlights extraordinary people making a difference) on RealCoachingRadio.com and author of the upcoming Waiting for Jack (Summer/Morgan James) and a recovered bulimic.

 

o        Matan Uziel — Senior executive of Israeli modeling agency Verbmodels and founder of Warmhome Media Group, an international advertising network.

o        Zina Garrison — Former professional tennis player; a women’s singles runner-up at Wimbledon in 1990, a three-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion & a women's doubles gold medalist at the 1988 Olympic Games.

·         The peak onset of eating disorders occurs during puberty and the late teen/early adult years, but symptoms can occur as young as kindergarten. Eighty percent of all 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat.

 

·        There has been a rise in the incidence of anorexia in young women ages 15-19 in each decade since 1930.

 

 

·        Over the course of one person’s lifetime, at least 50,000 individuals will die as a direct result of eating disorders.

 

·        Eating disorders affect people from all walks of life, including young children, middle-aged women, men and individuals of all races and ethnicities.

 

·         According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eating disorders are serious illnesses with a bio-logical basis modified and influenced by emotional and cultural factors. They are not lifestyle choices.

 

 

NEDA announced that it has joined leading experts on body image issues from around the world to pledge its support of the global launch of the Real Women campaign, which condemns the use of ultra-thin, digitally altered women in advertisements. 

 

A research paper released Nov. 9, The Impact of Media Images on Body Image and Behaviours: A Summary of the Scientific Evidence* examinesthe psychological effects of consumer society on individuals, particularly media influences on body dissatisfaction, materialism and dysfunctional buying behavior. Signed by 45 leading academics, doctors and clinical psychologists from the U.S.A., England, Australia, Brazil, Spain and Ireland, it details scientific evidence on how the use of airbrushing to promote “body perfect” ideals in advertising is a root cause of an array of serious problems in young women, including eating disorders, depression, extreme exercising and an increase in cosmetic surgery. 

 

The Real Women campaign launched in the U.K. in August – which is now growing into a worldwide endeavor – encouraged people to complain about airbrushing to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) to force advertisers to identify airbrushed images and to ban it in ads aimed at children. Nearly 1,000 people took action. ASA and CAP responded by asking for scientific evidence to back the campaign’s assertions.

 

The newly released paper provides that documentation and NEDA supports the work of these experts, some of whom are founders and committee members of the organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), headquartered in Seattle, Wash., a not-for-profit organization, supports individuals and families affected by eating disorders and advocates for prevention, treatment and research funding for eating disorders. Since the inception of its Helpline in 1999, NEDA has referred more than 50,000 people to treatment and tallies more than 40 million hits annually on its Web site. For more information on eating disorders, visit www.NationalEatingDisorders.org. 

 

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Or Contact NEDA’s Live Helpline: 800-931-2237
Monday – Friday: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (PST)

 

 

 

 

 

Greenleaf & Associates – 323-660-5800

 

Vicki Greenleaf — vicki@greenleafandassociates.com

 

Karen Brundage — karen@greenleafandassociates.com