As we’re all aware, eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are very serious matters.  Since we’re people who care about kids, we need to educate ourselves concerning the symptoms of these conditions and how to seek help when necessary.  Since we live in a society obsessed with being thin, young impressionable minds can be warped into doing irreversible damage to their developing bodies as they pursue some ideal, media promoted ‘look’.   Educating students to adopt a healthy lifestyle and a positive body-image is an on-going process throughout the insecure adolescent years.

To help parents support their children we want you to be aware of some outstanding local resources.    We are fortunate that the National Eating Disorder Association is based right here in Seattle.  They offer an array of educational and support services for people with eating disorders and those who are trying to help them.   Their website is http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/  .  One downloadable resource is the Parents Toolkit available as a pdf.file.  Check this out:

http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/uploads/file/toolkits/NEDA-Toolkit-Parents_03-10-09.pdf

 Another resource is http://www.eatingdisorderssupport.com/ which is a treatment program based on Mercer Island.  It is our hope to offer evening presentation on this topic to interested parents by an expert in the field soon.  More to come….