It’s Time To Talk About It. It’s Time To Walk About It!

This October, lace up your sneakers and join The National Eating Disorders Association [NEDA] for the 2nd Annual New York City NEDA Walk on the Riverside Park Promenade. The theme is; It’s time to Talk About It. It’s Time to Walk About It! The NEDA Walk takes place on Sunday, October 3rd, 2010 from 11am to 1pm.

The Walk is NEDA’s largest community building event. NEDA is a non-profit national organization dedicated to helping families and those who suffer from bulimia, anorexia, or binge eating disorder. It’s estimated that up to 25 million people in the USA suffer from an eating disorder.

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Beat is the UK’s charity helping people who suffer with eating disorders. They understand that eating disorders come in many different forms and affect a huge amount of people. The website is a resource, providing help and support, along with a helpline.

Beat have introduced a new HelpFinder Directory which “is a database of organisations and individuals providing support to people affected by eating disorders in the UK and from around the world.”

This new system will enable the user to find the resource they require close to their own home.

Visit Beat’s website here to find out more about the directory, their services or if you need to talk to someone.

A 16 year old in the USA has suffered from just about every eating disorder imaginable, including anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. After completing almost four months of an intensive schedule of residential, day and evening treatment groups over a year ago, she has cut back to fewer therapy sessions, but her symptoms, binge eating and sometimes forcing herself to throw up, continue.

While she no longer receives support through group therapy, the young woman visits online forums that promote recovery. “I like to talk to other people who understand exactly what I’m talking about,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Online communication, focused on encouraging recovery instead of promoting eating disorders as a lifestyle choice, could model the group treatment experience that has helped her and others feel less alone.

A study at the University of Leipzig in Germany has analysed postings on a pro-recovery bulimia forum. The researchers found that the majority of discussions focused on recovery in a way that could serve a function similar to the face-to-face self-help groups that are a common component of treatment for eating disorder patients.

Almost 80 percent of the forum’s discussions were “problem-oriented threads,” where one user posted a question related to the disorder, her emotions or where to get help and other users responded. Forty-three percent of the posts were created between 11 p.m. and 4:59 a.m., when users would be most isolated and without other support.

Take a look at 100% Forum where there is a facility to set up support groups to enable individuals to come together to discuss those issues which affect your day to day life.

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Two new specialist teams will be set up to improve diagnosis, care and support for people with eating disorders in Wales, Health Minister Edwina Hart officially announced last Friday. The new teams – for North Wales and South Wales – will comprise of specialist clinicians and work closely with existing services such as GPs surgeries, social services, child and adolescent mental health services and community mental health teams.

Additional funding has been allocated to deliver this plan.  £0.5 million will be available this year for the recruitment of additional staff and extra training. After that, £1 million will be available every year to sustain and develop services.

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A teenage man from Cornwall treated for an eating disorder has spoken out to tell other sufferers that there is “life beyond anorexia”.

Nineteen-year-old Chris Hardy said controlling what he ate had given him a sense of achievement. But when he realised he needed help, he sought treatment for seven months at the specialist Haldon Unit in Exeter.

He said: “I hope men don’t think they will show themselves up because they want help for this problem.”

Chris Hardy said that he was not sure when his disorder started, but he thought several things led to it. “Perhaps it’s a way of trying to understand and control the world that’s going on around them” explained Vanessa Ford, Haldon Unit.

He said: “A lot of stuff happened at 11 or 12 that was quite traumatic. My parents divorced, I moved school, moved house. And then you also start to become more aware of body image at that age anyway.”

When he moved to Cardiff to study medicine at university, his food intake dropped dramatically. He said: “I would count out the exact number of pieces of cereal to eat to have each morning, have a cracker at lunchtime, and then maybe a few bits of pasta in the evening.

“It was nothing really, but even that seemed too much and I would work on reducing it the next day. That was how I got a sense of achievement.”

At one time his Body Mass index (BMI), which the Department of Health defines as the most common method of evaluating to see if people are under or overweight, was 15. The range described as normal is 18.5 and 24.99.

When he could no longer concentrate in lectures, he got help. Staff at the unit supported him with therapy while getting him to eat properly again.

According to national support charity B-eat, more than 11,000 male patients are receiving treatment nationally. But it is thought this represents only a small proportion of those who have the condition and are keeping it hidden.

Haldon Unit service manager Vanessa Ford said the unit had seen a rise in the number of male patients, and that the reasons for men suffering from eating disorders were the same as those for women; “perhaps various traumatic things have happened in their lives, and perhaps it’s a way of trying to understand and control the world that’s going on around them.”

Chris Hardy said he felt that control was taken away from him when he first started treatment. But he added: “I had to have faith that the care team knew what they were doing.”

Now leaving the unit, Chris Hardy said he was planning to return to university and that he wanted others in his position to seek help.

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In the run up to Eating Disorders Awareness Week I wanted to make our readers aware of the different eating disorders that can affect everyday life.

Here is a story about Selective Eating Disorder, I had a friend that only ate meat and potatoes and I didn’t realize how much it can affect your life until I read about these people.

Vicki Zukiewicz adores her husband Damien. But when he announced he was taking her to Paris for their wedding anniversary, she could only force a smile. And when Damien tried to persuade her to eat salami in a romantic restaurant there, she cried.
Vicki, 32, is a bright, articulate, woman and a devoted mum. But she has, says psychologist Felix Economakis, “the brain of a four year old,” where food is concerned.

“Selective Eating Disorder can be equally as restrictive as having a full blown eating disorder.”

For 28 years Vicki has refused to eat anything except cheddar cheese sandwiches, and cheese and tomato pizza. Her restrictive, bizarre diet is now having a major effect on family life.  The Zukiewiczs, who live in Swindon with their three-year-old daughter Ella, cannot go to restaurants or dinner parties. Their social life is non-existent. At her wedding reception, five years ago, Vicki, who runs a successful business selling herbal supplements, managed a baked potato… with cheese.

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More people who suffer with eating disorders could benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy to help release them from obsessive feelings.

UK researchers have found that 4 out of 5 cases successfully recovered after completing a course of cognitive therapy.

The Research Centre quote most patients achieved “complete and lasting” improvement.

The Centre for Research on Eating Disorders at Oxford (CREDO) has carried out extensive research using techniques to combat people’s eating disorders. The therapy has been used in a variety of scenarios including binge eating, “feeling of fatness” and over evaluation of control over shape, weight and over eating.

Results have shown two thirds of people who complete the treatment make an excellent response.

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Weight is a national obsession. On the one hand we are in the grip of an obesity epidemic and experts are warning us against getting fat.

On the flip side we are seeing a backlash against the super skinny.

So how can you tell if you are healthy?

Indeed a naturally slim girl who is blessed with a metabolism that stops her getting fat can be healthy and a size zero – UK size 4.

“I would much rather someone be overweight yet exercise than someone be underweight and do no exercise at all”  stated Sports scientist John Brewer

“But others starve themselves to reach a goal weight when instead they would be far better off carrying a few excess pounds”

Weight is not a reliable indicator.

Doctors use a measurement called body mass index or BMI – a calculation of kilograms/metres squared – to judge a person’s size against weight.

As a rule of thumb, a BMI between 18 and 25 is healthy.

But someone who is very fit and muscular could have a BMI greater than 25 which would suggest, incorrectly, that they were overweight.

Conversely, someone who has a petite frame might fall below 18 but still be healthy.

HEALTH TARGETS
The average person should be able to:
Walk a mile in 15 minutes
Carry two bags of shopping from the supermarket to the car
Climb the stairs in a house without getting breathless

And BMI is a useless indicator in people under 16. Instead, weight for height ratio should be used to factor in the young person’s age and potential for growth.

Alarm bells would ring, for example, if a child was gaining weight too quickly for their age or if they were not gaining enough weight or growing.

Body shape can also help make the picture a bit clearer. Doctors are increasingly looking at waist measurements too because they know that “apple-shape” people who carry excess weight around their middle can be at risk of obesity-related conditions such as heart disease.

Then there’s what lies beneath the skin – all of the vital organs do the jobs essential to keep us alive.

These rely on the right nutrition and exercise.

Guidelines say we should eat five portions of fruit and veg a day and get 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five times a week for good health.

Healthy signs

And there are a host of signs and measures that can indicate if we are doing enough.

A nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, said it was sometimes possible to tell if someone was malnourished just by looking at them, even if they were a ‘normal’ size and weight.

“For example loss in skin colour, dull and dry hair, redness or swelling of mouth or lips, problems with gums or eyes, dryness of skin and brittle/ridged nails can indicate malnourishment.”

But lab tests are needed to get a full picture of a person’s nutritional status, she said.

‘NORMAL’ ADULT VITALS
Blood pressure below 140/90 mmHg each time it is taken
A resting pulse of around 70 beats per minute
A respiratory rate of around 16-20 breaths per minute

When it comes to physique, fitness levels vary from person to person and depend on many factors, including age and sex.

A good indicator is being able to walk a mile in 15 minutes is an indicator of a reasonable level of fitness and you should be able to carry a couple of shopping bags from the supermarket to the car, climb the stairs in your house without getting puffed and cope with occasional, small bursts of unexpected activity.”

Looking at a one-off snap shot can be difficult. You need to look at changes over time and know what is typical for that patient.

General healthy lifestyle is absolutely crucial. If you do exercise, being overweight is far less of a problemit is widely thought that it would be preferable for someone be overweight yet exercise than someone be underweight and do no exercise at all.

Healthy mind

Then there is healthy and unhealthy behaviour to consider.

Susan Ringwood, chief executive of UK eating disorders charity “beat”, said: “You can’t always tell by a person’s size, weight and shape if they are unhealthy.

“You can be seriously affected by an eating disorder and still be overweight.
Eating can become an obsession

“Most people diet at some point. Diets do not cause eating disorders. But all eating disorders start with a diet.”

She said there were warning signs to look out for.

“Someone who is really obsessed with food and has rituals around it. It might be restricting types of food.”

She said there were screening questions to help spot when an innocent diet might have escalated into an eating disorder: Are you worried about your food? Have you ever made yourself sick because you were concerned about being too full?

And there are physical signs.

“A girl’s periods might stop. She might have downy hair on her face and body in response to a low core temperature when the body isn’t getting enough energy in.”

There are medical tests that can aid diagnosis.

Much like Compulsive Overeating, sufferers with Binge Eating Disorder have similar symptoms, such as:

• Binge Eating
• Revolving life around food
• Eating although full-up
• Anxiety and depression
• Uncontrollable eating habits
• Feeling tormented by food
• Using food to distract from feelings of loneliness, boredom, sadness etc.

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“An addiction to food”

Many experts have used this expression as a way in which to describe the condition known as Compulsive Overeating. I expect many of us at some point or another have felt we are “addicted to food”. I mean we need it to survive! And I’m sure we’ve all had that feeling of discovering the perfect combination of ice-cream flavours and believe that we are addicted to the heavenly taste of mint choc-chip and chocolate fudge sundae! However, Compulsive Overeaters suffer with a very serious condition in which a need for food is taken to the extreme.

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