Eating Disorders

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalms 139:14

The American Psychiatric Association defines eating disorders as “behavioral conditions characterized by severe and persistent disturbance in eating behaviors and associated distressing thoughts and emotions. They can be severe conditions affecting physical, psychological and social function.” Eating disorders are serious but treatable physical and mental illnesses that can affect people of any gender, age, body shape, and weight. Eating disorders are prevalent in adolescents and are associated with significant medical and psychiatric problems. Types of eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, pica, rumination disorder, and other specified feeding and eating disorders. Many people with an eating disorder struggle in secret for years before even reaching out for help. While no one thing causes eating disorders, here are some factors that may contribute to the problem: genetics, physiological issues, culture, environment, and biochemistry.  This section has a variety of resources that will help you better understand eating disorders.

Books for Adults

• Eating by Faith: A Walk With God. My Eating Disorder From The Inside Out by Lisabe
• Starved: Mercy for Eating Disorders by Nancy Alcorn
• Anorexia & Bulimia: Control That is Out of Control by June Hunt
• Love to Eat Hate to Eat: breaking the Bondage of Destructive Eating Habits by Elyse Fitzpatrick
• Eating Disorders: Hope for the Hungering Souls by Mark E. Shaw
• The Real Me: Being the Real Girl God Sees by Natalie Grant
• Food Addiction: the Body Knows by Kay Sheppard
• Hidden Hunger by Maxine Vorster

Articles

• Eating disorders in adolescents, Journal of Adolescent Health
• Understanding Eating Disorders in Teens, WebMD
• Eating Disorders During Adolescence and the Risk for Physical and Mental Disorders During Early Adulthood, JAMA Psychiatry
• Teen, Children and Adolescent Eating Disorders, Eating Disorder Hope
• About Eating Disorders, The Healthy Teen Project
• Eating disorders and adolescents, Better Health Channel
• Identification and Management of Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents, American Academy of Pediatrics
• Treatment of eating disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry, Wolters Kluwer | Current Opinion in Psychiatry
• Eating Disorders in Adolescence & Teens, Break Binge Eating
• Tween and teen health, Mayo Clinic
• Did You Choose Your Eating Disorder?, Magnolia Creek Treatment Center for Eating Disorders

Video Links

• Eating Disorders: What Are They?, National Eating Disorders Association
• Find Balance
• Eating Disorder Hope
• Eating Disorders from the Inside Out: Laura Hill at TEDxColumbus
• Eating Disorder and the Bible
• Holding Hope in Eating Disorder Recovery

Games

• Yummy Tricks: A serious game for learning healthy eating habits
• Nutrition Websites For Kids and Teens, Healthy Harford
• Healthy eating games and activities, Healthy Eating Advisory Service
• Food, Drink & Eating – Activities and Games, Twinkl
• Kids’ Nutrition Games, nourishnteractive.com
• Kids’ Corner, USDA Nutrition.gov
• MyPlate Match Game, Let’s Eat Healthy
• 7 Nutrition Lesson Plans and Activities for High School Students, HMH

Books for Children

• What’s So Yummy? All About Eating Well and Feeling Good by Robie H.Harris
• The Cabbage Storm: A book about Health by Anne Pilmoor Adventistbookcenter.com
• Live It In the Kitchen by Loma Linda University, Chef Cory Gheen, Jackie Z. Gilstrap [Adventistbookcenter.com]
• A Healthy Little Me by Lisa Kack [Adventistbookcenter.com]
• Be Healthy! It’s a Girl Thing: Food, Fitness, and Feeling Great by Mavis Jukes, Lilian Wai-Yin Cheung, Debra Ziss
• Picky Eater by Michael Gordon
• Cooking With Kids: Healthy Food for Happy Kids by Kirly Sue [Adventistbookcenter.com]
• Fun with Kids in the Kitchen Cookbook by Judi Rogers [Adventistbookcenter.com]

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These resource links are being provided for informational purposes only. The North American Division of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is not responsible for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Please contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.