Wednesday marks the first day of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and Guelph will be engaging by lighting up city hall in purple to commemorate.
The week is to bring awareness about eating disorders, dispel myths, provide support, and host events locally about the topic.
On Feb. 8 Waterloo-Wellington Eating Disorders Coalition (WWEDC) will be hosting a virtual panel called Faces of Recovery. People can register for free to view the panel this coming Wednesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The WWEDC has hosted the panel for almost 20 years. There is a moderator and four to five panellists who have lived experience with eating disorders who have recovered.
“We have a focus not so much on the ins and outs of the person’s struggle because that can be triggering to some people who are going through the same thing,” said April Gates, founding member of WWEDC.
“We focus more on the recovery aspect. How did people get to where they are today in their recovery,” she said.
Eating disorders are not just about food, or vanity, at all. They are complex mental conditions, with physical manifestations which are serious and life threatening, said Gates.
She emphasized eating disorders are treatable.
“So it’s a combination of genetics, the environment of course, diet culture, we call it. Cultural factors, mental health issues. It’s very complex,” said Gates.
Eating disorders can impact all genders, socio-economic backgrounds, races, and ethnicities, she said.
Gates iterated that 1,750,000 million people in Canada are at some point challenged with an eating disorder.
WWEC amalgamated in 2015 to include Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Eating Disorders Coalition and the Eating Disorders Awareness Coalition of Waterloo.
“As time evolved we included people with lived experience in our membership,” said Gates.
