A Public Health Approach to Eating Disorders Prevention: It’s Time for Public Health Professionals to Take a Seat at the Table.
A public health approach to eating disorders prevention: It’s time for public health professionals to take a seat at the table.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
BMC Public Health. 2012 Oct 9; 12(1): 854
Austin SB
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The societal burden of eating disorders is clear, and though there is a compelling need for a public health approach to eating disorders prevention, public health professionals have yet to take up the challenge. DISCUSSION: The article lays out an argument for what steps need to be taken to bring a public health approach to eating disorders prevention. First, stock is taken of what the field has achieved so far, using tools from the prevention science literature, and, second, a research plan of action is offered that plays to the unique strengths of public health, drawing on a triggers-to-action framework from public health law. Minimal participation was found from public health professionals in eating disorders prevention research, and the vast majority of prevention research to date was found to be concentrated within the disciplines of psychology and psychiatry. Extreme disciplinary concentration of the research has led to a preponderance of individually targeted prevention strategies with little research focused on environmental targets, particularly at the macro level. New environmental initiatives are now emerging, such as a government-sponsored mass media anti-dieting campaign, and legal bans on extremely thin models in advertising, but for the most part, they have yet to be evaluated. A triggers-to-action framework, which focuses on evidentiary base, practical considerations, and political will, developed in public health law provides a basis for a strategic research plan for a public health approach to eating disorders prevention.
HubMed – eating disorders
Comparison of specialist and nonspecialist care pathways for adolescents with anorexia nervosa and related eating disorders.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
Int J Eat Disord. 2012 Oct 4;
House J, Schmidt U, Craig M, Landau S, Simic M, Nicholls D, Hugo P, Berelowitz M, Eisler I
OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of specialist outpatient eating disorders services and investigate how direct access to these affects rates of referral, admissions for inpatient treatment, and continuity of care. METHOD: Services beyond primary care in Greater London retrospectively identified adolescents who presented with an eating disorder over a 2-year period. Data concerning service use were collected from clinical casenotes. RESULTS: In areas where specialist outpatient services were available, 2-3 times more cases were identified than in areas without such services. Where initial outpatient treatment was in specialist rather than nonspecialist services, there was a significantly lower rate of admission for inpatient treatment and considerably higher consistency of care. DISCUSSION: Developing specialist outpatient services with direct access from primary care is likely to lead to improvements in treatment and reduce overall costs. © 2012 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2012;).
HubMed – eating disorders
Combined symptomatology of psychosis, pica syndrome, and hippocampal sclerosis: A case report.
Filed under: Eating Disorders
Int J Eat Disord. 2012 Oct 3;
Rohde J, Claussen MC, Kuechenhoff B, Seifritz E, Schuepbach D
Pica is the developmentally and culturally inappropriate eating of nonnutritive substances for at least 1 month. Herein, we present the case of a male patient that suddenly showed behavioral changes including aggressiveness, withdrawal, and perceptional disturbances at the age of 12. About 7 years later, pica symptoms emerged additionally. Neither pharmacotherapy nor electroconvulsive therapy led to success. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral sclerosis of the hippocampus. The therapy with carbamazepine, clozapine, diazepam, and zinc finally improved the symptoms including the pica symptoms. © 2012 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2012;).
HubMed – eating disorders
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