EATING
eat AWARENESS
TEAM
Welcome to EAT’s new-look newsletter
Exciting things are happening at EAT
Warm greetings from all of us here at
the Eating Awareness Team!
Exciting things are happening at EAT:
we’re working on a website with the help of
Webbuild (www.webbuild.co.nz) and will
soon have a great set of online resources for
you to access and refer others. Our youth
counsellor, Rachel Lattimore, has recently
started a parents’ group in conjunction with
Princess Margaret Hospital. Read about it
over the page.
On another note, the recession is hitting
us all, and not-for-profit’s are certainly no
exception. At the present time, our counsel-
ling and support services are stretched to
maximum capacity and we have had to
institute a waiting list. In response to this EAT
will be holding an online craft auction in
October to coincide with Love Your Body
Day 2009 (see http://create4eat.wordpress
.com/). While this will be a great event and
Give to EAT!
In this newsletter:
we look forward to your involvement later in
the year, if you are able to support us now EAT Update 1
by donation we would be very grateful.
EAT’s main source of funding comes Eating Disorders in the Media 2
from the Canterbury District Health Board.
This funding, however, is not sufficient to New Parents Group Inititative 2
cover all of the costs involved in providing
our service to the people of Canterbury and Contact EAT 2
the wider South Island. We pursue many
other options for community funding and
spend a lot of time and energy seeking addi-
tionual funds to maintain the service. Cur-
rently, we are in urgent need of more fund-
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If you’d like to donate to EAT, here’s how:
Cheque: payable to Eating Awareness Team
Direct Credit
Account Name: Eating Awareness Team Inc.
Account Number: 030855 0393532 00

EAT Staff and
Collective Officers
Contact Us
phone: 03 366 7725
email: eat@chch.planet.org.nz
Eating Disorders in the Media
Kate Yeoman, Adult Counseling Co-ordinator
You may have seen the recent story about a contestant in the
Australian Miss Universe contest whose body was deemed “too
thin”, suggesting she was suffering from an eating disorder.
I was contacted by a major current
affairs programme for comment, and the
experience reinforced my feeling that the
media’s treatment of eating disorders is
often simplistic and unhelpful.
The show’s producer clearly wanted me
to confirm that the contestant was shockingly
thin and probably had an eating disorder.
Unfortunately, as I explained to him, I was in
no position to judge this from watching a
YouTube video. I also pointed out that the
other contestants were uniformly slim: any of
them may or may not have suffered from
body image issues and food difficulties.
I said I was happy to come on the show
to discuss how women’s bodies are scruti-
nised in events like beauty pageants, and
the mistaken idea that what a person’s body
looks like can tell us whether they have an
eating disorder.
In the end, I wasn’t on the show. When
I watched it that night I realised how thor-
oughly my ideas failed to fit the black-and-
white story they presented; and how they
jarred with the follow-up story – a feel-good
item about the happy, healthy contestants in
NZ’s pageant.
The main item involved the host and
two pageant representatives scrutinising the
contestant’s body and debating whether she
had an eating disorder. Overall, I felt the
show perpetuated inaccurate and harmful
New Parents’ Group Initiative
I have just finished running a Parents’
group collaboratively with the ED service at
PMH. The group was a skills-based learning
group focused on communication skills and
supporting parents to support their child to
recover from ED. It is based on the Maud-
sley Method, which uses family therapy and
Rachel Lattimore Fiona O’Neill
Youth Counsellor Chairperson (Collective)
Kate Yeoman
Adult Counsellor
Jacqueline Anne
(Collective)
Julie Loan Jackie van Litsenburg
Adult Counsellor Volunteer Counsellor
ideas about eating disorders and “beautiful”
bodies:
• One contestant was singled out,
suggesting that the others had “normal”
bodies and were obviously free from food
and body image issues;
• In fact, all the contestants had body
types that are uncommon to most women,
and that don’t reflect the diversity of
beautiful bodies;
• Directing suspicion at one woman
reinforces the idea of an eating disorder
“look”;
• This is a dangerous assumption
because, actually, people with all kinds of
bodies can have eating disorders or dis-
tress around food and body image;
• Also, if this woman did have an
eating disorder, media scrutiny would be
the last thing she’d need;
• And if she were unwell, the item
suggests that it is somehow her fault,
despite the pressure to be slim that is
undoubtedly a feature of beauty pag-
eants.
While discussion of disordered eating
and body image difficulties is badly needed
in the media, the conversation needs to
address the complexity of these issues.
Clearly my take on things didn't sit com-
fortably next to the pre-packaged ideas
about "normal" and "healthy" that the media
has an 80% recovery rate. This highlights
the importance of including families and
support people on the recovery journey. By
increasing understanding of ED’s and their
effects on family and individuals, people can
work together against the ED and toward
more life affirming goals. It also serves to
Lucy Allen-King
Media (Collective)
Anita Harrison
Administration & Finance
(Treasurer)
Charlotte Murphy
Fundraising
Introducing Lucy
We'd like to introduce Lucy Allen-King
who has been a part of EAT's
Collective group since March 2008.
Lucy is excited to be taking on a role
within the organisation as our Con-
sumer Liaison and Volunteer Co-
ordinator.
Lucy will facilitate communication
between EAT's clients and the service
we provide.
We have also had an increasing
number of past and present clients
and the members of the public want-
ing to volunteer within the service.
Lucy will act as the coordinator for
this type of work and if you would like
to offer up your services we'd be most
appreciative! Most of the work isn't
glamorous but is really essential to the
maintenance of EAT's services.
Lucy can be contact by email:
lucyak@gmail.com.
perpetuates. NZ needs its media to look at
these issues more deeply and sensitively - in
a less simplistic, less sensationalist, more
challenging way.
shift shame and blame which often interfere
with the recovery process. Instead, under-
standing and learning to meet needs is fos-
tered. The group is now running as a
monthly peer-support service and newcom-
ers are welcome. Rachel Lattimore, EAT’s
Youth and Family Counsellor.