Preventing Eating Disorders as We Head Back to School
This post was written by Debra Benfield M.Ed., RDN/LDN, CEDRD-S, RYT the co-President of the Winston Salem Eating Disorders Coalition. You can find the original post here.
If you are spinning with "back-to-school" overwhelm, I see you.
Navigating our way back to in-person experiences, all at once, all together now, is creating new kind of anxiety for students, parents and guardians, teachers, and administrators alike. Coping with the stress of returning to school during this prolonged pandemic is tough on everyone's mental health. I'm afraid the geatest burden is falling on our kids.
Disordered eating and exercise patterns many times develop as a way to cope during times of stress. The times we are living through are placing our kiddos at a greater risk of developing disordered relationships with food, eating, exercise, and their bodies. We have evidence of this with the increase in demand for treatment locally, state-wide and nationally. It is deeply concerning that this demand far exceeds our resources for both at both out-patient and in-patient levels.
Take Action
There are action steps we can take to raise kids with more eating competency and body confidence!
If you, or someone you love, is concerned about food and eating anxieties, body shame and eating disorders in kids and teens, I am writing this for you. I have gathered this list of excellent resources for you. I am grateful for the many committed professionals who are providing helpful resources during this challening time. If you are on Instagram and listen to Podcasts, you are in luck!
If a podcast or account is cultivating guilt about food, how you are eating and feeding your family, and/or your body-Please unfollow!
This is by no means a comprehensive list but a helpful place to begin. Also, follow me on Instagram [instagram.com] for ongoing posts about this subject. Please let me know if I have neglected to mention a resource you find to be helpful. Please share and save. Our kids need us!
PODCASTS
Sunnyside Up Nutrition podcast [sunnysideupnutrition.com]
Comfort Food podcast [podcasts.apple.com]
How to Help your Kids Hold Onto Intuitive Eating and Resist Diet Culture [christyharrison.com]
Feeding Humans podcast [kznutrition.com]
@leslieschilling [instagram.com]
@beauty_redefined [instagram.com]
@fullbloomproject [instagram.com]
@katjarowellmd [instagram.com]
@drrachelmillner [instagram.com]
ARTICLES/BLOGS
The Lunch Box Card [static1.squarespace.com]
PDF Letter [thefeedingdoctor.com] to your child’s doctor re not discussing weight (2nd edition Love Me, Feed Me sneak peek)
Burnt Toast: a newsletter [virginiasolesmith.com] by Virginia Sole-Smith
Back-to-School Weight Commentary: How to Support Your Kids [equip.health]About Face [about-face.org] website and blog on media literacy and supporting healthy body image
Can You Really be Addicted to Food [evelyntribole.com]? Article by Evelyn Tribole, to counter the notion of food addiction
Talking to Children About Food [thefeedingdoctor.com]: A brief article with do’s and don'ts for adults, including school staff, when talking to kids about food, co-authored with eating disorder specialist, Elizabeth Jackson RD
Definition of “normal eating” by Ellyn Satter [ellynsatterinstitute.org]Hierarchy of Food Needs [thefeedingdoctor.com], Ellyn Satter
BOOKS
How to Raise an Intutive Eater: Raising the Next Generation with Food and Body Confidence [amazon.com] Sumner Brooks and Amee Severson
The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America [virginiasolesmith.com] Virginia Sole-Smith
More Than a Body: Your Body is an Instrument, Not an Ornament [morethanabody.org]Lindsay and Lexi Kite
No Weigh! A Teen's Guide to Positive Body Image, Food and Emotional Wisdom [amazon.com] Wendy Sterling, Shelley Agarwal, and Signe Darpinian
This is by no means a comprehensive list but a helpful place to begin. Also, follow me on Instagram [instagram.com] for ongoing posts about this subject. Please let me know if I have neglected to mention a resource you found to be helpful.
Please share and save.
Our kids need us!