February 1-7, 2009 is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week in Canada
Our society’s preoccupation with body image is reflected in the fact that, at any given time, 70% of women and 35% of men are dieting. More seriously, a 1993 Statistics Canada Survey reported that in women between the ages of 15 and 25, 1-2% have anorexia and 3-5% have bulimia.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, with 10% to 20% eventually dying from complications. Eating disorders also cross cultural, racial and socio-economic boundaries, and affect men and women. These potentially life-threatening conditions are also a growing problem.
We’re joined in the studio by Jacqueline Gauthier, a counsellor with the eating disorders program offered by NARSF Programs in Nanaimo.
