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Building a Healthy Relationship with Body & Food – Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2025

Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) is an annual campaign to educate the public about the realities of eating disorders and to provide hope and visibility to individuals and loved ones impacted by eating disorders.

With Black History Month in February, Women’s History Month in March, International Women’s Day March 8th it is important to note that women and marginalized communities are particularly adversely affected.

The US Office of Women’s Health even offers a free EDAW toolkit here!

The EDAW campaign resources are all available here, from graphics to screenings

Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Taking place Monday, February 24 – Sunday, March 2, 2025, I have once again signed up to be an Eating Disorders Awareness Week Collaborator, which means A Blythe Coach is listed on the collaborators page and I have agreed to share important resources with students, clients, and my community!

This issue is close to my heart as a dancer, educator, and person who has grown up in a toxic diet and body culture, working hard to break free of such restriction and all harmful constructs.

My perspective on the topic of Eating Disorders prevention is that of a lifelong performing artist from the intensely competitive subculture of classical ballet, in a society already obsessed with impossible-to-attain ideals of beauty. Layered with that, philosophy, critical theory, and the lens of intersectional feminism.

At thirteen I left home for a summer dance intensive at the Nashville Ballet and it was there that I first became aware of the risk and symptoms of disordered eating and body perception. As an adult, I have made progress in educating myself, accepting my own body and others’, and promoting self-acceptance.

Personally, I continue to heal my own relationship with my body, food, and eating, to learn about anti-diet nutrition, Health At Every Size, and developing a neutral relationship to body/food through inspirational leaders in these spaces.

Seeking to educate myself and to lift up others, here are the resources I have found so far, the people to whom I turn and trust in providing referrals for my own students and clients. This is a growing collection and I would love to add your contributions as well!

The Time is Now

This year’s theme is: The Time is Now. Our goal is to create urgency around the need to recognize eating disorders as a public health concern and to push the importance of early detection through screenings, funding research, and accessible treatment and resources.

Like all mental illnesses, detection and effective treatment are potentially life-saving.

Enjoying a milkshake, ongoing work for a healthy relationship to body, food & eating

Finding Help, Resources, Links

Eating Disorders Awareness Week is relevant to the my own life experiences along with those of many I know as the consequences of untreated Eating Disorders can be dire. In fact, Eating Disorders present the greatest risk of mortality of all mental illnesses.

In my ballet and Mindful Movement classes and coaching, in-person and online, I seek to offer an open and accepting perspective and well as referrals and resources as needed.

I shared a bit of my personal story in 2024 in my ​EDAW Greeting Video​ and Wrap-Up Video on Instagram and I hope you find my story and the information and other folks referenced to be helpful in your own journey!

Podcast Episodes & Articles with Dieticians

Crucial to my path of learning about eating disorder awareness and treatment have been conversations with anti-diet, pro-body-neutrality and diversity in dance dieticians who I am proud to know personally. The resulting podcast interviews and blogs are accessible here:

​Dancing Body Acceptance with Dietician Fumi Somehara​

​Dancing Body Acceptance with Dietician Fumi Somehara​, an article and A Blythe Coach podcast episode 074, Part 1 of my mini-series on Dancing Body Acceptance from 2021 and still relevant today! Of particular value are her recommendations for teachers, students/dancers, concerned family members and friends, and dance companies.

Dance Recovering from Eating Disorder with Dietician Mona ‘Kai’ Iguchi

​Dance Recovering from Eating Disorder with Dietician Mona ‘Kai’ Iguchi​, an article and A Blythe Coach podcast episode 075, Part 2 of my mini-series on Dancing Body Acceptance. Kai is a Dietician working in eating disorder recovery, an adult ballet dancer, and nonbinary (they/them pronouns) who has connected me with a wealth of wonderful resources when it comes to dancing nutrition, eating disorder treatment, equity and access. They were also a ballet student of mine at the University of Hawai’i!

Podcasts by Others

Books

People & Organizations

​Body-Positive and Anti-Diet Creators who inspire me​, including yoga teachers, coaches, dancers, therapists, nutritionists and other creators who foster diversity and inclusion:

“You’re not the problem, it’s the culture of dance that you have grown up in, it’s also society and the world we live in, your body is not the one to blame.”     – Fumi Somehara

Organizations
  • Project HEAL, a nonprofit organization, Est. 2008: “Eating disorder recovery is hard – getting treatment shouldn’t be. We help break down systemic, healthcare & financial barriers to healing.”
  • National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders/ANAD is a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization providing free, peer support services to anyone struggling with an eating disorder.
    • History: “Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) was established to bring attention to the prevalence of eating disorders, reduce stigma, and provide education on prevention and treatment. Its origins trace back to the 1980s, when mental health advocates began organizing events to shed light on eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Over time, these efforts grew into a coordinated annual campaign observed in many countries. The week encourages dialogue, empowers individuals struggling with these conditions, and highlights the importance of early intervention and proper care.”
  • Beat Eating Disorders is UK-based and also has helpful links:
    • Right now, at least 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. That’s more than 1 in 50 people – but the real number could be even higher. Eating disorders like ARFID, anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and OSFED are complex mental health conditions which are often misunderstood, mislabelled or undiagnosed which can prevent people from reaching out for help.
    • Eating disorders don’t just affect the person with the condition, friends and family often become carers – feeling helpless and heartbroken, as they watch their loved one struggle. Eating disorders are one of the biggest mental health challenges of our time and they can affect anyone at any time. Go to Eating disorders can affect anyone to find out more.
  • DDD Center for Recovery is Dietician Fumi Somehara​‘s Australia clinic, “an inclusive and compassionate, non-diet nutrition practice. We help you heal from chronic dieting, weight cycling, disordered eating, eating disorders, and RED-S. We are grounded in Health At Every Size(R) philosophy and truly believe that all bodies, no matter its size, shape, colour or gender, deserves respectful and compassionate care. We will listen to your story and provide a space where you can heal your relationship with food and your body, so that you can live a liberated and nourishing life.”
Dieticians / Nutritionists

Dance-friendly, body-neutral, anti-diet professionals:

Dancers & Teachers
Who Is This Chick?
Dance Companies

Nonbinary-friendly, racially and physically and diverse ballet companies:

Therapists
Body-Neutral, -Positive, & Anti-Diet & ED Creators

German Resources / Deutch

Despite attempts to find informative and entertaining resources in German, I’m still early in my research and would appreciate any leads you might have.

Questions for Reflection

  • How is your relationship with my body, food, eating?
  • Should you or someone you know take an assessment?
  • What organizations do you know of who do good work in the area of Eating Disorder education, prevention, and treatment?
  • What resources does my community need and how can I connect them?
  • How can I support you in going after your dreams?
Notes from EDAW 2024 in my Bullet Journal: Anti-Diet, HAES, Diversity & Inclusion!

My Commitment

Myself, I re-commit to body-positivity and adaptivity in my classes and programs and continuing to grow in my relationship to food, eating, diversity, and inclusion. #edaw #edawareness

Look forward to sharing how in March I am taking part in International Women’s Day and invite you to special events for Dance Week, Coaching Week and more coming up soon! Enjoy your Karneval and Easter candy and see you again soon.

The best way to keep up-to-date on everything I’m coaching, teaching, creating and sharing about as well as my favorite work from other creators is to subscribe to my weekly email newsletter. Would love to be connected to you there, here, on social media, online or in-person!

Blythe Stephens, MFA & Bliss Catalyst
she/her or they/them
Creator of A Blythe Coach @ablythecoach
helping multi-passionate creatives dance through their difficulties,
taking leaps of faith into fulfillment through coaching, yoga & dance education

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