Eating Disorders Awareness Week is Feb. 1-7
Eating Disorders Awareness Week puts the spotlight on the seriousness of eating disorders and to improve public understanding of their causes, triggers and treatments. By increasing awareness and access to resources, we can encourage early detection and intervention, which can improve the likelihood of full recovery for millions.While it is difficult to put an exact figure on the amount of people affected by eating disorders, as numbers vary between 150,000 to more than 600,000 across Canada.
According to the National Initiative for Eating Disorders (NIED):
· About three per cent of women are affected by an eating disorder over their lifetime
· Doctors say there are two-to-three times more cases than a generation ago
· the rate of obesity is nine per cent in girls, while the rate of eating disorders sits at 18 per cent
· Incidence of restrictive eating disorders in children aged five to 12 is twice the incident rate of type II diabetes in all children, from newborn to 18 years
· Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder, according to the NIED
McGill/ The Douglas Mental Health University Institute experts:
Dr. Howard Steiger, Chief, Eating Disorders Program, Douglas Institute, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Associate Member, Department of Psychology, McGill University and UQAM
Expertise: Eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, personality pathology, neurobiology, gene-environment interactions, developmental factors
Contact: howard.steiger [at] douglas.mcgill.ca
Available for interviews in French and English
Dr. Mimi Israel, Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Douglas Institute, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, McGill, President, Association of Chiefs of Departments of Psychiatry of Montreal, Fellow, Academy of Eating Disorders
Expertise: Eating disorders, affective disorders, crisis intervention, emergency psychiatry and mental health care service organization and delivery
Contact: mimi.israel [at] douglas.mcgill.ca
Available for interviews in French and English