The National Eating Disorder Awareness Week (February 23 - 27), aims to motivate individuals who need help to get treatment and to raise public awareness about eating disorders. 

Eating disorders and problematic eating behaviors have become epidemic. Studies have shown that 1in 5 adolescents engages at some point during their teenage years disordered eating behaviors and nearly 7 million women in the US currently suffer from anorexia and bulimia. Most parents will not be faced with the challenges of dealing with an anorexic or bulimic. Many, however, will face the challenges of children who have poor body images or eating problems like excessive dieting, skipping meals, bingeing one day and eating very little the next day or trying the latest diet fad. Disordered eating can be harmful to adolescents' developing bodies and minds.

Since early detection of an eating disorder can increase the likelihood of successful recovery, knowing the warning signs is important. In your interaction with your child, you may notice one or more of the physical, behavioral and emotional signs of an eating disorder:

The St. Francis High School Guidance and Counseling Department will offer confidential eating disorder screenings and informational meetings. If you are interested in learning more about disordered eating, a confidential screening or one of the support groups, please contact Mrs. Rupp at Ext. 104 or Ms. Sullivan at Ext. 108.