http://www.hcf.com.au/Services/eating-disorders.asp
http://www.ceed.org.au/www/452/1001127/displayarticle/1001246.html
http://www.cedd.org.au/
http://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/
http://www.vic.gov.au/health-community/medical-conditions/eating-disorders.html
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Eating_disorders
Key advocacy efforts in recent times have included:
• Consumer, carer and professional input into the ministerial advisory committee subcommittee on eating disorders, providing advice to Minister Lisa Neville, Minister for Mental Health and Drugs.
• Consumer representation and professional input into the community advisory committee for body image, providing advice to Minster James Merlino, Minister for Youth Affairs, Recreation and Sport.
• Submission to the Victorian Government in response to the proposed new mental health strategy "Because Mental Health Matters". Click here to download a copy of the submission.
• Devising EDV position paper and guidelines on the portrayal of body images by the media, fashion and advertising industries.
• Participation on the advisory panel for the 'Kids - Go For Your Life' health initiative.
• Participation in the Butterfly Eating Disorders Australian National Collaboration.
• Participation in the advisory committee for the Centre For Excellence in Eating Disorders (CEED).
There are many projects to address the challenges of body image issues and eating disorders.
This project examines whether an internet‐based intervention for carers (or significant others) of people with anorexia nervosa is effective and useful. The interactive web programme aims to give carers information and skills to help them help their relative, cope with care‐giving and reduce distress, which may in turn help the individual with anorexia nervosa. The programme includes information on how to communicate with a person with anorexia; how to support them at meal times, facilitate weight gain and re‐establish healthy eating; how to manage crises and conflict; and how to assess and manage risk.
There are many places young people can go to help with the issues of body image and eating disorders. These include:
Doctors
Hospitals
Community Health Services
Beyond Blue Helpline
SANE Australia
Eating Disorders Victoria
Websites to go to include:
http://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/
http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/Eating_Disorders
http://www.youthbeyondblue.com/
http://www.sane.org/
Eating Disorders Victoria welcomed Hairhouse Warehouse as its first corporate sponsor in 2008. EDV and Hairhouse Warehouse are working on a joint venture to raise awareness of the issues surrounding eating disorders and to raise the profile of the Eating Disorders Helpline. Monies raised from the campaign are going toward expanding upon the helpline infrastructure and service. EDV is extremely grateful for the generous support of Hairhouse Warehouse in developing this project.
In January 2009, Eating Disorders Victoria produced new radio Community Service Announcements (CSA):
CASE STUDY: ANOREXIA
Miranda developed anorexia nervosa when she was 16. Fifteen years later she has recovered but is a self-confessed, habitually mindful person about what she eats.
"I was a shy and apparently very bright teenager, the kind of girl that tried to please everyone. I was pretty and not fat - just had that normal puppy fat you have.
"I remember my father (who was joking) telling me maybe I was a little chubby. I took him seriously. I started dieting and didn't stop. Eventually my periods stopped. I was obsessed. I weighed my food all the time and did things like put my daily ration into small containers. I exercised - even in the bathroom. I was five feet nine tall and weighed less than 45 kilos. I ended up in hospital and on a drip for two weeks. It took a long time and a lot of help for me to face my problem."
http://www.hcf.com.au/Services/eating-disorders.asp
Physical: The following physical symptoms will become more severe the longer the disorder is present:
• Dry skin
• Dry or chapped lips
• Poor circulation resulting in pins and needles and/or purple extremities
• Headaches
• Brittle fingernails
• Bruising easily
• Frail appearance
• Endocrine disorder leading to cessation of periods in girls (amenorrhoea)
• Reduced metabolism
• Abnormally slow heart rate
• Low blood pressure
• Hypotension
• Hypothermia
• Anaemia (iron deficiency)
• Abdominal pain
• Oedema (retention of fluid giving a “puffy” appearance)
• Stunting of height and growth
• Fainting
Social Problems:
• Cultural pressures that glorify 'thinness' and place value on obtaining the 'perfect body'
• Narrow definitions of beauty that include only women and men of specific body weights and shapes
Cultural norms that value people on the basis of physical appearance
Emotional Issues:
Intellectual Problems:
