The International No Diet Day (INDD) is celebrated on May 06.
It is an annual celebration of body acceptance and diversity.
This day is also dedicated to promoting a healthy life style and raise awareness of the dangers and futility of dieting. The symbol of the No Diet Day is a blue ribbon, similar to the red ribbon of the World AIDS Day.
International No Diet Day was created by Mary Evans Young in 1992, Mary is the director of the British group “Diet Breakers”. After personally experiencing anorexia, she worked to help people appreciate themselves for what they are, and to appreciate the body they have.
There are several goals to the INDD: Celebrate the beauty and diversity of ALL our natural sizes & shapes; Declare a personal one-day moratorium on diet/weight obsession; Learn the facts about weight-loss dieting, health, and body size; Recognize how dieting perpetuates violence against women; Honor the victims of eating disorders and weight-loss surgery; Help end weight discrimination, sizism and fatphobia.
When someone has an eating disorder, their weight is the prime focus of their life. Their all-consuming preoccupation with calories, grams of fat, exercise and weight allows them to displace the painful emotions or situations that are at the heart of the problem and gives them a false sense of being in control.
The eating disorders anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, and their variants, all feature serious disturbances in eating behavior and weight regulation. They are associated with a wide range of adverse psychological, physical, and social consequences.
Bulimia nervosa is a disorder characterized by binge eating and purging. Purging can include self-induced vomiting, over-exercising, and the usage of diuretics, enemas, and laxatives. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by extreme food restriction to the point of self-starvation and excessive weight loss.
The extreme weight loss often causes women and girls who have begun menstruating to stop having menstrual periods, a condition known as amenorrhea, although some women who meet the other DSM-5 criteria for anorexia nervosa still report some menstrual activity. The DSM-5 currently specifies two subtypes of anorexia nervosa—the restricting type and the binge/purge type. Those who suffer from the restricting type of anorexia nervosa lose weight by restricting food intake and sometimes by over-exercising, whereas those suffering from the binge/purge type overeat and/or compensate through some method of purging.
The difference between anorexia nervosa binge/purge type and bulimia nervosa is the body weight of a person. Those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa binge/purge type are well under a healthy bodyweight, while those with bulimia nervosa may have a body weight that falls within the range from normal to overweight and obese . Though primarily thought of as affecting females (an estimated 5–10 million being affected in the UK), eating disorders affect males as well. An estimated 10 – 15% of people with eating disorders are males (Gorgan, 1999). (an estimated 1 million UK males being affected).
Although eating disorders are increasing all over the world among both men and women, there is evidence to suggest that it is women in the Western world who are at the highest risk of developing them and the degree of westernization increases the risk.
Nearly half of all Americans personally know someone with an eating disorder.
The skill to comprehend the central processes of appetite has increased tremendously since leptin was discovered, and the skill to observe the functions of the brain as well. Interactions between motivational, homeostatic and self-regulatory control processes are involved in eating behavior, which is a key component in eating disorders.
The precise cause of eating disorders is not entirely understood, but there is evidence that it may be linked to other medical conditions and situations. Cultural idealization of thinness and youthfulness have contributed to eating disorders affecting diverse populations.
One study showed that girls with ADHD have a greater chance of getting an eating disorder than those not affected by ADHD.
Another study suggested that women with PTSD, especially due to sexually related trauma, are more likely to develop anorexia nervosa. One study showed that foster girls are more likely to develop bulimia nervosa. Some think that peer pressure and idealized body-types seen in the media are also a significant factor. Some research shows that for certain people there are genetic reasons why they may be prone to developing an eating disorder.
Recent studies have found evidence of a correlation between patients with bulimia nervosa and substance use disorders. In addition, anxiety disorders and personality disorders are common occurrences with clients of eating disorders. People with eating disorders may have a dysfunctional hunger cognitive module which causes various feelings of distress to make them feel hungry.
A person with an eating disorder may start out just eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, their urge to eat less or more spirals out of control. Severe distress or concern about body weight or shape, or extreme efforts to manage weight or food intake, also may characterize an eating disorder.
The idea of having an enjoyable and healthy relationship with food is at the heart of International No Diet Day.
An annual celebration of body acceptance and body shape diversity, INDD is dedicated to promoting a healthy life style and raising awareness of the dangers and futility of dieting. Celebrate this way of thinking today by sharing good food with friends, family and work mates.
KIDS SUFFER TOO
If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, even though you might feel all alone, know that you’re not. Eating disorders are a huge problem in today’s society. Over 7 million people in North America have an eating disorder. KIDS/TEENS HELP LINE
While proper treatment can be highly effective for many suffering from specific types of eating disorders, the consequences of eating disorders can be severe, including death (whether from direct medical effects of disturbed eating habits or from comorbid conditions such as suicidal thinking).
IMPACT OF MENTAL ILLNESS
Mental illnesses are disorders of brain function. They have many causes and result from complex interactions between a person’s genes and their environment. Having a mental illness is not a choice or moral failing. Mental illnesses occur at similar rates around the world, in every culture and in all socio economic groups.
The statistics are staggering, 1 in 5 young people suffer from a mental illness, that’s 20 percent of our population but yet only about 4 percent of the total health care budget is spent on our mental health. TEEN TOOL BOX – HERE
Caring about and maintaining our mental health is as important as our physical health. We only have one brain and one body, so it’s our job to keep it running in the best way we can by paying attention to and working to improve our mental and physical health.
We seem to know more about our bodies than we do our minds. This website is designed to share information about mental health and provide you with resources that can help you understand your mental health and assist those you care about.
Use the tools, resources, events and engagement tools to improve mental health literacy in your community and help change the conversation.
MENTAL ILLNESSES
The impact is more than in statistics and factoids, it’s in feelings and emotions. It’s in our families, with our friends and in our communities. Having a mental disorder should not be any different than experiencing a physical illness. And it doesn’t have to be; you can help make a difference.
A mental illness makes the things you do in life hard, like: work, school and socializing with other people. If you think you (or someone you know) might have a mental disorder, it is best to consult a professional as soon as possible.
Early identification and effective intervention is the key to successfully treating the disorder and preventing future disability. A health care professional (doctor, mental health specialist, etc) will connect the symptoms and experiences the patient is having with recognized diagnostic criteria (DSM or ICD) to help formulate a diagnosis.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. It is most commonly used in North America.
The ICD, part of the International Classification of Diseases produced by the World Health Organization (WHO), is another commonly-used guide, more so in Europe and other parts of the world.
These guides separate mental disorders into a number of categories. We’ve listed some of the most common mental disorders below. This list is not comprehensive, but is reflective of the most common diagnoses.
(With material from: Wikipedia)
International NO DIET DAY, celebrated on May 6
May 1, 2024 by Team Celebration
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