It is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and the subject can't really be contained to one week. When thinking about eating disorders, and frankly getting a little sad about them, I remembered a positive news story I read a while back. There was a study on family meals and eating disorders, that as mother of two girls I found heartening.
Researchers found that sitting down for regular family meals may actually help prevent eating disorders. Girls who ate five or more meals with their families weekly were one third less likely to practice extreme weight control behaviors. Extreme weight control behaviors range from vomiting, taking diet pills and abusing diuretics. Interestingly enough, family meals did not seem to lower unhealthy weight control behaviors like binge eating, smoking or skipping meals. It is important to note that the researchers did say that how the family acts during these meals is important, because they could also promote unhealthy eating habits. Enhancing the meal time atmosphere and saving possibly emotionally loaded topics, like potential prom plans, for other times might promote a healthy relationship with food too.
My boyfriend was bulimic for a whooping full year (before I knew him). His family eat at the most odd time of day everyday, never together as a family, so I really agree with this article. I grew up having family dinner every weekday till I was in college, however, I suffered from about six months of acute anorexia. But I was able to snap out of it pretty quick before any long term harm was done.
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