| CHURCHES are being urged to support a campaign for greater understanding of eating disorders, at the conclusion of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Eating disorders cause more deaths than any other psychiatric illness and rates are at an all-time high, says the national Christian charity Anorexia and Bulimia Care (ABC), which has been working with sufferers and their families for 20 years. While one quarter of adolescent girls say they have an eating disorder, people of all ages and backgrounds are vulnerable, including a high proportion of young men, the charity says.
It suggests that, on average, a church of 200 will have ten people struggling with an eating disorder. Churches working with families and young people in the community needed to be aware of the issues, Jane Smith of ABC said this week. “We believe that the Church is a great base from which to help the wider community, and that it helps us meet our aim of supporting those in need and helping them to find the advice and treatment they are searching for.”
This year’s campaign for churches, under the slogan “Coffee and biscuits after the service? Not for everyone” (above), is supported by Care for the Family, Urban Saints, and the Baptist Union.
The charity runs phone helplines for sufferers, a parents’ helpline, and email support. It offers advice, information, encouragement and prayer, and training for church and youth leaders, counsellors, teachers, and health professionals.
www.anorexiabulimiacare.co.uk
|
back to News
previous story
|
next story 
