Eating Disorders A Hidden Danger

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Eating Disorders A Hidden Danger
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Session Objectives

• Differentiate between anorexia, bulimia and binge
  eating
• Understand and state your role as the school
  foodservice personnel

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Disordered eating

• Anorexia nervosa
• Bulimia nervosa
• Binge eating

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Anorexia Nervosa

• Often model child
• Role confusion
• Resistance to increasing maturity
• Often overweight prior to eating disorders
• Behaviors severe calorie restriction, rigid
  control over food intake physical activity
• Denial that problem exists

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Bulimia Nervosa

• Behaviors binging (may/may not purge early in
  disorder)
• Common purging behaviors vomiting, laxative
  abuse, diuretic abuse, exercise
• Signs close to normal weight, binge (purge),
  lack of control over binging, over-concern with
  body weight shape
• Guilt over behavior, hides behavior, recognizes
  behavior is wrong, ashamed

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Binge eating

• Binge large amounts of food over a relatively
  short period of time

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A typical binge

• 2 pounds of Oreos
• 1 pint of vanilla ice cream
• 1 pint of butter pecan ice cream
• 2 quarts of skim milk
• 4 waffles
• 1 loaf of bread
• ½ pound of butter
• 6 eggs
• 1 bottle of maple syrup

• 1 pound of Ritz crackers
• ½ pound of potato salad
• ½ pound of bakery cookies
• 1 pound of coffee cake
• 1 ice cream sandwich
• 2 yogurts
• 10 cream-filled chocolate cupcakes

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Common elements in eating disorders

• Low self-esteem
• Tries to hide feelings about body/weight
• Excessive need for control
• Sees herself as unattractive
• Depression, alcohol/drug abuse, sexual abuse
  commonly accompany
• Social isolation

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Kim

• Kim is a 15 year old girl. She is an
  overachiever and a gymnast. She watches her
  weight with great care, and exercises in addition
  to gymnastics practice. She is thin and desires
  to loose more weight. Kim is 56 tall and
  weighs 85 pounds.
• What eating disorder do you suspect?

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Mary

• Mary is a charming, intelligent 20 year old
  woman. She is of normal weight and has been
  slightly overweight in the past. She constantly
  thinks about food. Mary starves herself for
  several days in attempt to loose more weight and
  then secretly binges when she has eaten too much
  she vomits.
• What eating disorder do you suspect?

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What Can School Foodservice Personnel Do?

• Know about appropriate resources for referral
• Educate students with pamphlets, posters, table
  tents, and flyers especially during eating
  disorders awareness week
• Provide accurate nutrition information and
  education
• Support other school personnel to identify
  students at risk
• Recognize individual potential in all students

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Who is a Nutrition Expert?

• What to look for

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Earmarks of a Quack

• Too good to be true
• Suspicions about the food industry
• Testimonials instead of research based
• Fake credentials
• Unpublished studies

• Authority not cited
• Motive of personal gain
• Advertisement
• Unreliable publication
• Logic without proof

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Who can you trust?

• Registered Dietitians (RD, LRD)
• Licensed Nutritionist (in ND only)
• City, county or public health department
• Local hospital
• Local college or university
• Local or state Department of Education
• Community resources
• Nutrition and food science department or public
  health/nutrition department at a university
• The Cooperative Extension Service
• Home Economist