Health Unit starts body image coalition
According to the National Eating Disorder Information Centre, most women and a growing number of men are dissatisfied with their bodies.
“The beauty ideal today is thin, able-bodied, smooth-skinned, young and glamorous,” said Rachel Moon Kelly, public health nutritionist at the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health unit. “The reality is that less than one per cent of us fits this ideal.”
The quest to fit into this ideal has led many people, — up to 15 per cent of the population — to fall into a pattern of eating disorders.
Ms. Moon Kelly said that dealing with an unhealthy body image is difficult, and can lead to depression, low self-esteem, and harmful eating habits.
“How we picture ourselves in the mirror and our minds has tremendous impact on how we act,” she said. “With media influences and other factors, it’s easy to fall into the trap of unhealthy weight loss diets and the like.”
To help combat this trend, the HKPR District Health Unit is using Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which runs until Feb. 8, as a forum to lay the groundwork for a new Body Image Group in Northumberland.
“We are starting a body image coalition, beginning with a focus group on Tuesday evening,” said Ms. Moon Kelly.
The focus group was expected to include representatives from the medical, mental health, dietetics, and educational communities, teens and parents.