Weight stigma is a real thing, and something that I am directly impacted by. To put it into perspective, I went out this past weekend and I was feeling hot—I was feeling myself 150%. The next day, I did something that I never do, something that I advise people not to do, but I did it anyway. I jumped on the scale. Immediately, I went from feeling hot to almost hating myself in a matter of seconds.
In the eating disorders community, we often hear the phrase “Not every diet leads to an eating disorder, but every eating disorder starts with a diet.” That’s true, but if we really want to prevent eating disorders and allow for full recovery, we can’t stop there. We have to ask ourselves the next logical question: Where do the diets come from?
NEDA’s merger with BEDA last fall was an important step toward unifying the eating disorders community and improving access to services and support across the entire spectrum of these illnesses. NEDA is committed to continuing many of the contributions BEDA made to the eating disorders field. Today, we are excited to announce the continuation of Weight Stigma Awareness Week which was established in 2011.
This blog post is sponsored by Veritas Collaborative.
September is Suicide Prevention Month, and now more than ever, we need to examine how we can each play a role in decreasing suicide rates in the United States and beyond.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and on average, 129 individuals die by suicide each day. Individuals diagnosed with eating disorders are particularly vulnerable, with suicide rates for this population up to 31 times more than the suicide rate for the general population.
