Author: frivvy89

Have you ever had a friend or family member who turns up their nose at most foods and wondered, “Do they have an eating disorder?” Eating disorders — including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder — aren’t the same as being a “picky eater.” These often misunderstood disorders are very real, complex illnesses that require treatment.   “Eating disorders are not a fad, phase or lifestyle choice,” says Janet Milner, a registered dietitian nutritionist who specializes in eating disorder treatment. “They can be triggered by a combination of long-standing biological, behavioral, psychological, emotional, interpersonal and social factors.” It’s more…

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, updated its criteria for foods labeled “healthy.” The proposed change is based on current nutrition science and prioritizes healthy dietary patterns, continuing from the FDA’s overhaul of the Nutrition Facts panel in 2016. Assistant Professor of History Xaq Frohlich explains why and how “healthy” food label criteria has changed over the years. Can you talk about the FDA’s new guidelines for “healthy” food and why they came about? The current FDA definition of “healthy” emphasizes reducing total fats and providing a minimum of certain key vitamins, reflecting the public health…

Today we’re going to hear from a mom whose daughter has an eating disorder, and now the mom is experiencing her own eating issues.  The letter Dear Ginny, I’ve spent the past six years trying to help our daughter recover from anorexia. We have tried every treatment, and it’s been a very expensive uphill battle. I want so badly for her to get better. In almost every way, her recovery has taken over my life. But also, I have my own issues. I started having panic attacks last year, which are bad enough. But the truth is that I think…

In April, Kimberly Hart made a resolution to lose some weight on the advice of her doctor. Hart, who is 61 and lives in New Haven, Connecticut, has high blood pressure and cholesterol. These factors, combined with her age and weight, put her at an elevated risk for developing diabetes, and she wanted to do whatever she could to prevent that from happening.One element within her control, Hart thought at the time, was her diet. She started seeing a nutritionist, a cost covered by Medicaid, and eating more healthily. But it wasn’t long before her efforts clashed with the reality…

The Food and Drug Administration unveiled a new proposal on Wednesday that would change the criteria for which packaged foods the agency considers “healthy,” in an attempt to modernize its approach to nutrition and reduce the burden of diet-related diseases.Currently, about 5 percent of all packaged foods are labeled “healthy,” according to the agency. The definition, which was set in 1994, allows for food manufacturers to add the word “healthy” to their products, as long as the products have limited amounts of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and provide at least 10 percent of the daily value of…

“Finding your “why” in Anorexia” (By: Ashton Maguire) Anorexia Nervosa is an egosyntonic disorder. Egosyntonic disorders are ones that align with the individual’s values, beliefs, and feelings. In effect, the symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa align with the ideal self-image of the individual struggling with the disorder. The egosyntonic nature of Anorexia results in a lack of motivation to seek help since treatment and support would result in a cessation of the anorexic behaviors that are consistent with their values of perfectionism, the thin-ideal body image, and self-control. Thus, the individual struggling with Anorexia Nervosa protects their eating disorder at all…

From artists to actors to comedians, numerous celebrities have experienced or been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Given the widespread public and media attention celebrities receive, their stories may be helpful for others living with an eating disorder. Extensive research shows that exposure to celebrity images, appearance comparison, and celebrity worship are linked to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.Taylor SwiftIn her Netflix documentary Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, the singer-songwriter opened up for the first time about her experience with an eating disorder. She admitted there have been times in the past when she’s seen a picture of herself or read…

Introduction Eating disorders in pregnancy is associated with poor outcomes for both the mother and her baby, including miscarriage, preterm delivery, and fetal disabilities such as poor fetal growth or malformations (Watson et al., 2017; Janas-Kozik et al., 2021). The overall aim of this study is to understand how women with a history of eating disorder may experience pregnancy. For most people, having an eating disorder mean being emotionally overwhelmed by their body, weight, and appearance. This in turn, is linked to unhealthy behaviors, such as starvation, overeating, vomiting and/or excessive physical activity. The woman may feel controlled by thoughts…

Tackling foodborne outbreaks faster and revealing the root cause are essential for the prevention of future outbreaks. We have a plan to do that. Foodborne disease remains a significant public health problem in the United States. The FDA’s Foodborne Outbreak Response Improvement Plan (FORIP), described in this document, is an important step that the FDA is taking to enhance the speed, effectiveness, coordination, and communication of outbreak investigations. (Unless stated otherwise, this report focuses exclusively on the response to human food and not animal food.) Our ultimate goal is to bend the curve of foodborne illness in this country. I. What…

More than a Body is an important read for those suffering from a negative body image. Authors Dr. Lexie Kite and Dr. Lindsay Kite (not only sisters, but also identical twins!) are well versed in body image research. Not only do the authors provide a great discussion of what body image is, and how it developed, they deliver an extensive discussion on the influence of society on our body image. What is this book about? Lexie and Lindsay provide a framework of body image disturbance and postulate that objectification, both historically and current, of women (and with increasing frequency, boys’…