supporting-youth-with-eating-disorders--2.mp4
SUSAN LAWRENCE: Hi, everybody. This is Susan Lawrence and I'd like to welcome you to our Supporting Youth with Eating Disorders webinar, presented by Reverend Dr. Monica L. Cummings who you'll see on the other video screen. I'm the managing editor with the Faith Development Office and we've been doing a series all year of monthly webinars, so very glad that you can join us. And we'll be posting this webinar online in a few days, so if you hear of people who weren't able to join us, feel free to give them that access. And I think I'll just get through the housekeeping, and then turn you over to Monica. So, join me with this.
You figured out already to turn your camera off. And there's an audio solution if you have a problem, which is to get out of FUZE and call in by phone. And I can post the phone number again in case you need it after I'm done talking to you. Here's the link to where our webinars are posted, which will open the schedule and the descriptions of the upcoming webinars, as well as the links to the recorded ones that have been posted.
So, mute yourself during Monica's presentation. And meanwhile, I'm going to ask you to raise your red flag to speak. And I think you might have all done this before-- but just to show me that you know where your red flag is and your microphone, let's practice muting and unmuting. If you mouse over your microphone, you'll see a few choices there and you can unmute or mute yourself by clicking. I'm going to-- let's see. Show me that you know this, and I also will show you the red flag. Good job, everybody.
In the meeting chat box, you'll see these little icons up above it. Right in the middle of mine is a red flag. If you click on the red flag, it indicates that you would like to talk. I've just put my flag on. See if you can figure out where yours is. And you can make your flag appear or disappear. So, what we decided is to allow people to ask questions or comment as you wish during the presentation.
Monica may ask some questions while she's showing slides to you. And you may just feel like chiming in have a comment, so you can either write your comment in the meeting chat, and I may write you a note, asking if you'd like to talk. And your other option is to raise your flag. And we'll invite you to jump in at that point and you can either unmute yourself or let me do that for you.
OK, yeah, your meeting chat box. Over to your left, I think, unless you're on a Mac-- you'll find it right in the lower left-hand corner. You can type in there. You can also cut and paste out the meeting chat box to a Word document or something else that's open on your computer.
I believe that is all I have. If you have questions, you can type them in or just interrupt and ask them-- like how to do things. Here's Monica.
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: All right. Hi, family. Thank you for tuning in and sticking it out with us after we had to cancel last week because what was going on in my local community. Welcome to this webinar. I am Reverend Dr. Monica L. Cummings, also known as just Rev. Monica. And it's good to be here.
And this webinar came about-- I am a liaison on their Youth Ministry Advisory Committee, also known as YMAC. And for those of you who aren't familiar, YMAC came into existence after continental why are you you was reconstituted. And so, YMAC reports to President Morales . And its charge is-- the community's charge is to monitor and assess and to support Youth Ministry Continental USA.
And during one of our last meetings-- I think it was last spring or last summer-- the younger members of the community got together and talked about what are some of the pressing needs for youth in our congregations. And eating disorders was one of the subjects-- along with non-suicidal self-injury-- were a couple of topics that they thought needed to be addressed. And I volunteered and committed to presenting webinars and then trading animated videos to support youth who maybe struggle with a eating disorder. So, that's why and how this webinar came into existence.
We have three learning objectives for our time together tonight. And they are to learn the differences between anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating, and/or overeating. To learn the symptoms and warning signs of eating disorders and to learn what you can do if there's a young person in your life, whether you're a parent, auntie, or religious professional in the congregation, you'll learn what you can do to support a young person in your life if they have an eating disorder.
So, what is an eating disorder? And you're all on your computers so you can read the slides yourself, but basically, an eating disorder is a disturbance that significantly impairs-- a eating disturbance that significantly impairs the physical health and psychosocial function of a young person. And we're going to talk about the three most common eating disorders and that's anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating and overeating. So, those are the three that we will be discussing tonight.
And we'll start off talking about how anorexia affects the person's body. And so, anorexia-- the thing that distinguishes it from-- [INAUDIBLE] just joined me. The thing that distinguishes anorexia from the other eating disorders is primarily, the person restricts food. And that's how the person who's affected with the disorder tries to lose weight and tries to get to what they believe is their ideal body weight and size and so forth.
And so, anorexic-- people with anorexia will literally starve themselves to death. So you can imagine what happens to their body when they're not getting the correct amount of nutrition that they need to sustain their organs, the brain function, heart, and so forth.
So, one of the things that happens with someone who's suffering with anorexia is their thinking gets cloudy, their memory goes bad. I'm sure if you've ever fasted or if you even miss lunch, or I mean, miss breakfast and you go to work or go to school or do whatever you do. And your thinking is just sluggish, and that's one of effects of someone who has anorexia.
The person's hair gets thin and brittle. The person's hair just looks unhealthy. It impacts the heart. It causes the pulse to slow. It causes low blood pressure. People with anorexia probably get anemia and to be anemic.
As you know, muscles need nutrition and want to be strong and to build muscle. Well, that impacts muscles because the person's restricting food and not getting all the nutrients they need, so the muscles become weak. Kidneys can fail. So, you can see in skin looks very unhealthy, whether it's dry looking, ashy looking, or yellow.
Does anybody have any questions? OK, new slides.
Now as you can see from the slide that's on the screen-- this is how bulimia affects the body and it's similar to what-- how the body is impacted by anorexia. Bulimia has additional effects and that's the stomach. Because the person may induce vomiting, use laxatives, or other diuretics in order to control their weight or get to their ideal body size. The acids in the stomach then wreak havoc on other organs of the body. For example, the throat and the esophagus-- because of the acids in the stomach coming through-- they're impacted and become damaged.
The same thing with the brain-- sluggish thinking, in addition to having low self-esteem, which we'll talk about later. The kidneys are impacted, the heart, similar to anorexia and also anemia. And so you can see by the slide that any time the body's deprived of the nutrients it needs, there's side effects to that and you're seeing the side effects on these slides.
Binge eating is a cycle. And so, unlike anorexia, and bulimia, binge eating-- the person consumes too many calories and so the concern with anorexia is restriction of food and not getting enough calories. With the bulimia, the person may actually eat, but then purge as it does other things, so they don't gain weight. With binge eating, the person typically overeats and the primary concern with that is obesity. And again, poor self-esteem and other things that trigger the person, so then binge eats. Does that make sense?
So, why? Why do you think people having eating disorders, develop eating disorders? Low self-esteem. In all the literature that I've read, folks that I've spoken to about this subject, and people I've known who have had eating disorders-- low self-esteem and being extremely self-conscious are two things that are repeated throughout the literature and people who talk about the subject.
Genetics-- it can be hereditary. I often kind of link eating disorders in addiction, in terms of how the disorders can be passed down in families from parent to child. Biology, again like addiction. There may be a chemical imbalance in the brain that causes someone to develop an eating disorder. And media influence and also peer influence are other reasons why people develop and engage in eating disorders.
I don't have to tell you-- you can't really turn on the TV or be online or do anything without seeing some kind act with dieting. And unfortunately, now, we used to not have to worry about talking to young people about this issue until they were in high school. And now, elementary school is the time and place to start educating young people about eating disorders. And helping them to analyze and be critical of the media they're absorbing and what the media tells them who they are and how they should be. And most importantly, how they should look. Does that make sense? All right.
So, what are some of the symptoms of anorexia? And since fear of gaining weight and becoming fat, significantly more body weight for the age, sex, and physical health. Binge eating is a sign, purging behavior. So, there is a category anorexia nervosa. Binge, purge, and so, that's kind of how it overlaps with bulimia because bulimia, also-- there's purging and other behaviors that people engage in, in order not to gain weight. So, this is how the two overlap.
But primarily, the symptom that you may be most familiar with and aware of is the intensity or gaining weight and just the whole body image thing that people with anorexia have. Additional symptoms are concerned about weight gain even as the person is losing weight. And again, it's their body image that's faulty.
Obsessive compulsive features related to food, excessive levels of physical activity as a way to not gain weight and again, to get their ideal physical image. And scars and calluses on their hand-- and that's from the purging for people who self induce vomiting will have scars and calluses-- may have scars and calluses on their hand from repeatedly inducing vomiting.
Symptoms for bulimia-- binge eating is one. And binge eating is simply eating a massive quantity of food and calories in a short period of time. Typically, less than two hours. Eating in secrecy, and that includes hiding food and hoarding food. Purging, like I said, either through vomiting, laxatives, or other diuretics. Other behaviors that they'll engage in so they won't gain weight, so the calories won't stick. Excessive emphasis on their body weight and shape. I've mentioned that.
And their teeth may be chipped or look moth-eaten. And again, that's from the acids in the stomach wearing on the teeth, and calluses on their fingers or hands. Additional symptoms-- eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry, eating alone, and feeling guilty afterwards.
So, what are some the risk factors for anorexia? Anxiety disorder is a risk factor. Another risk factor that people are starting noticing in childhood-- if the child is obsessive about food or obsessive about anything else that is just a click off normal, that child is within risk for the development of eating disorder later in life. Cultures and settings where thinness is valued, and that would include our culture in the US.
Models-- I don't have to tell you about the unhealthy look that some models have. And elite athletes will also develop eating disorders as they try to-- especially wrestlers and other athletes where they have to make a certain weight-- or where speed is important in your sport. Suicide is a risk and substance use or addiction is a risk. So, some folks who have anorexia will also have another co-occuring disorder, which is usually an anxiety disorder or some type of substance use or abuse. Also, major depression, significantly low body weight for their age, sex, and physical health. Binge eating, and again, purging.
And for bulimia, risk factors, again, weight concerns, low self-esteem, overanxious disorder of childhood. So, during childhood, if the child was just really anxious-- they're at risk for developing an eating disorder later in life. Thin body ideal, again, could be coming from the media and their social peer group.
Childhood sexual or physical abuse-- studies have shown that unfortunately, people who are diagnosed with bulimia do have a history of having been abused sexually or physically as a child. And genetic vulnerabilities-- again, like addiction. This could be passed from parent to child. Genetics, weight gain.
And so, for binge eating, risk factors-- again, genetics could be passed from parent to child. Weight gain and obesity is a huge factor in binge eating because again, binge eating is eating a massive quantity of food and taking a massive quantity of calories in a short period of time. Quality of life, life satisfaction, and that's connected with the person possibly being obese and having health risks there.
A co-occuring disorder with someone who's been diagnosed with binge eating or has tendencies towards binge eating is bipolar, depressive, and anxiety disorders and substance use or addiction.
And so, I want to caution you because weight gain is not the only sign that something may have an eating disorder. And so, some people may think that they have a young person in their life-- that they may suspect has an eating disorder, but then they say, well, if they're at a normal weight for their height and sex and so forth, so they can't have an eating disorder. That's an urban myth because remember, people who engage in binge eating-- the primary concern with them is obesity.
And again, with people with bulimia, they may not necessarily look like-- they may not necessarily have a weight that would alarm someone that they have an eating disorder. So, don't just go by weight alone if you have concerns about a young person in your life who may or may not have an eating disorder. And eating disorders, believe it or not has the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. And so I want to say that again, it has the highest mortality rate.
And it's just painful when someone starves themselves to death with anorexia. Or multiple organ failure for folks who engage in bulimia because of the purging that causes an imbalance in your body and then starts to damage organs. It's an extremely painful way to die, not only for the person, but for their loved ones who watch them slowly die.
So, here's some of the signs for you to look for. And after I finish this slide, please, you can add to it because I would be surprised if you don't have any young people in your life who you're concerned about, or who you know have an eating disorder. So signs to look for-- wearing baggy clothing to hide the body.
I was talking with a friend about this webinar, and she said, duh. You can tell when a young person's really thin and you should be concerned about them. I said, no, because sometimes people will wear really baggy clothing to hide their body. And so you really can't tell how thin they are. So, you know a young person who wears baggy clothing that you may want to be alerted.
Obsession with counting calories-- if you know a young person who's just obsessed with how many calories is in this, how many calories are in that. That's another thing that you should be alerted to. Obsession with exercise-- and I think you'll know it when you see it. I mean, everybody likes Jazzercise and working out. I work out myself, but there's just something about someone who's obsessed with it. And if you haven't seen the movie Spanglish, the character-- and I forget her name-- the character in that movie is a good example of someone who has an eating disorder and is just obsessed with running.
Binge eating is a sign. Purging, of course, is a sign. Isolation, eating in isolation. Again, I mentioned hoarding food. If you go into your young person's room or if the young person just has food in odd places-- that's something that you should be concerned about. Visiting the bathroom immediately after eating meals.
I encourage parents and religious educators, and you can figure it out, how you can make it happen. But I encourage people if they're concerned about a young person having an eating disorder to have a meal with them, to sit down and have a meal with them. And you can tell by the way they eat if something's wrong. If they're anorexic, they're going to pick at the food and they may eat a little bit to appease you.
And if they have bulimia, again, they may eat a little to appease you. And, of course, if they're a binge eater they may eat a lot. The telltale sign, though, is the way they eat the food. And then if they excuse themselves immediately afterward and disappear-- and especially, if they disappear into a bathroom-- that definitely should alert you to something possibly being wrong.
Hair loss, like was mentioned in one of the previous slides, where hair just looks unhealthy. If a young person, female, does not have a period each month, and she's of age to be menstruating. That's definitely something to be concerned about. Mood swings-- yes and no. It's a potential sign, but we all know the developmental age of the folks we're talking about-- mood swings is part of the package. And definitely, damage to the teeth from stomach acids.
Does anyone have any questions or comments? Anything to add?
All right, so what can you do as the ministry team? And as I was putting the material for the webinar together, I thought back to a congregation I worked with years ago, and I'm learned from a parent in the congregation that their daughter was hospitalized for an eating disorder, and the parent didn't feel comfortable telling anyone in the congregation. And so one of the things I need to mention is there's a lot of shame. We mentioned guilt in relation to folks who have bulimia, and binge eating, but there's a lot of shame that people carry-- the person with the eating disorder and the family. And so as the ministry team becomes aware of a young person in the congregation who has an eating disorder, definitely have a nonjudgmental attitude. You have to present with love and compassion, and let both individual and the parents know that the ministry team and the church is behind and will support them no matter what.
And the question comes up should the young person be approached? Should the parents be approached? It depends on the relationship, and people ask me, you know, how they should go about doing something in terms of approaching people involved, or people they have concerns about. And I really-- there's no template for this, it depends on the relationship you have with the young person, and it depends on the relationship you have with the parents. So if you have a good relationship with the young person, definitely speak with them in private, let them know what your concerns are.
Definitely have some literature or something you can give them so they can maybe self identify, because the other thing that happens with people who have eating disorders, they don't think they have an eating disorder. It's like addicts and alcoholics. You know? I don't-- they'll say, I don't have a drinking problem. Even if they're doing heroin, some of them will say, I don't have a drug problem. It's the same thing with people with eating disorders. Most of the time the person does not realize that they're eating is disordered, and so education, education, education will certainly be important. Like I said, have literature or something you can refer that young person to, so possibly they can see themselves as they read the material.
Talk with parents about your concerns. Again, the ministry team working together, all the religious professionals, and the congregation, if someone has a good relationship with the parents, definitely speak with them and remember compassion, love, and with a nonjudgmental attitude. And, again, have referral information available to offer them. It's always a good idea for religious professionals to have literature, whether it's a book on the shelf that deals with certain issues, or just pamphlets.
I often, when I was a parish minister, I would write things that, like-- domestic violence. I would write about domestic violence in my newsletter column, or addiction, or whatever. You know, I would put it out there, and people reading it-- my thinking was hopefully they'll know that I'm a safe person for them to come talk to about the issue. If you're working with young people, more than likely you are a mandated reporter, and this falls within the category of self harm.
And so I would highly recommend that if you have concerns about a young person in your congregation, if you have a DRE, speak with the minister. If you're a minister, maybe speak with a colleague who you think may have more experience. But I think most states you have 48 hours to report, and the person on the other end of the phone will be-- in my experience has been the most loving, supportive person that you could ever call, I mean, talk with making such a difficult call. So remember, you are a mandated reporter if you're working with young people and it needs to be reported.
And promote positive self-image. In elementary school, I mean, start educating young people as early as possible, helping them to analyze and critique everything that's being said to them. Because I don't have to tell you, you're aware as I am that our culture is a culture of dieting, and self-image, and all that, and most often that's not a healthy message, nor is it a healthy way to go about having what someone would think that is an unhealthy body image.
So any questions?
All right, Susan. You're up. You have to unmute yourself.
SUSAN LAWRENCE: Yeah, I guess I just wanted to do a little bit about what you can do, and I looked into all of our Tapestry of Faith materials and all the different things the [INAUDIBLE] were producing in order to see if I could specify some curricular resources that would be helpful to get this positive self-image pumped up. So I knew already that it's the first principle about inherent dignity and self-worth that is embedded in all the stuff we produce. So it wasn't as easy as I thought it might be to find activities that are very specific. So I would urge you to look through the Tapestry of Faith materials by using keyword search in the search function for things like body image, or self confidence, or self esteem.
And I did search like that and what I did find out is that the grades two through three programs, which our [INAUDIBLE] can access and you know what? One of you probably knows better than I which is which. I'm not going to rattle them off. But the ones that are for grades two and three are very focused on building a sense of self, and intangible gifts that we hold inside, and that others have, and it's, in a kind of a general way, a bit counter to what's going in society and the media that everyone's exposed to. And the youth programs in particular that have good messages about self-esteem and body image are the poetry curriculum, the families curriculum, which is the one where kids go and document different kinds of families in their own congregation and that way learn about their families, and everyone else's. It's very-- it's just got acceptance built in, and exploring differences, and it has messages in there about valuing yourself and your body.
And A Place of Wholeness has a lot of stuff around self-esteem, as well, because [INAUDIBLE] character [INAUDIBLE]. I think you probably all are familiar with OWL, Our Whole Lives, and the whole premise is that a healthy sexuality is a holistic thing, and your body image is a piece of that. And it's a new curriculum coming out for grades seven through nine. It does have a piece about body image and more stuff about [INAUDIBLE] media than we had in the previous edition. So that's good. But OWL in general has a healthy holistic focus that [INAUDIBLE].
And, finally, I wanted to point you to the Summer Family pages UU World magazine. We do that insert, that's the four-page color thing with stories and parent section and activities. Hopefully you've seen it, and hopefully you use it sometimes. The theme of the summer one, which comes out in June right before GA is feeling good in your body, and there's a parent story about their daughter who had some physical problems, and surgically got them fixed, and had a big scar. And it talks about her daughter's attitude, which is a very healthy one, towards what she's been through, and how to value her body for what it can do. And the parent reflection is a blogger we found online overhearing her husband saying lovely things to their three year old about how each part of her body is valuable because of what it can do for her, and how she uses her body as if its function-- it's beautiful. The blogger talks about her feelings overhearing this. And there are activities and readings inside the summer piece.
I think that's all. I'm curious if we have time and you may have something to say. I'd be curious what you have found for resources in terms of building self-esteem and dealing with healthy body image, or ways that that's been embedded and some of the things that you may want to do with your youth or your children. I'm curious, if anybody wants to share. [INAUDIBLE].
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: Thanks, Susan. All right, questions? Comments? Experiences?
SUSAN LAWRENCE: Worries?
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: Worries. All right.
SUSAN LAWRENCE: I was going to ask if anyone else has gone to school to study about education and learned about the kind-- when you wait for questions, and there's a lot of wisdom how long to wait? Because you need to wait in case people don't want to speak up, but you don't want to wait too long, because maybe nobody wants to talk.
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: All righty. Is there anyone in your life who you're concerned about possibly having an eating disorder? You can just chat in the chat box if you want a yes, no, maybe. Indeed. Anyone else? Alexis? Linda? All right, well, what do you think, Susan?
SUSAN LAWRENCE: It's sleepy time.
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: That's right. It is late for you folks on the East Coast. All right. Well, thank you for attending.
SUSAN LAWRENCE: OK. Glad you could come.
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: Susan, you want to wrap it up?
SUSAN LAWRENCE: Yeah. Let's see, I guess we don't have another slide. Do you want to explain what these information resources are?
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: Sure. The information resource slide is where I culled information in addition to the DSM. Where I pulled information for the webinar materials, and there's also, as you can see, a YouTube video that you can watch. It's just good to know stuff, and it's always good to have resources.
SUSAN LAWRENCE: OK. Well, we can say good night, or good evening, or good afternoon, depending where you are. And, again, thanks for joining us. There are more webinars coming up, and we'll see you again, soon.
MONICA L. CUMMINGS: All right, y'all. Be safe. Bye.
SUSAN LAWRENCE: Good night.