By:
Heather Borch
Alexis Brightwell
Melanie Szalontai

Introduction

While many people have heard of eating disorders, few understand the serious and life altering impact they can have. Eating disorders are not just bad eating habits, they are serious phsychological conditions. Contrary to popular opinion, they do not just affect girls and women but people of all ages and genders.

The purpose of our website is to educate both the public and individuals with eating disorders about these illnesses. We will be focusing on two main eating disorders, anorexia and bulimia. Along with describing these illnesses we will describe the effects of eating disorders, treatment options, prevention, and available supports.

Here are some recent statistics concerning eating disorders:

Eating disorders are now the third most chronic illness in adolescent girls (Nedic, 2005).

It is estimated that 3% of women will be affected by eating disorders in their lifetime (Nedic, 2005).

In 2005, more than 500,000 Canadians suffered from some sort of eating disorder (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2005).