Does this sound like someone you may know? This person is suffering from an eating disorder. Every year in the U.S. millions of people develop eating disorders. Of that number 90% are young females. If left untreated, eating disorders can cause serious damage to the body and even death. What are some reasons women develop eating disorders? What do you do if you think you know someone who has an eating disorder?

• What is an eating disorder?
• What are the different types of eating disorders?
• What are some signs and symptoms of eating disorders?
• What may contribute or trigger an eating disorder?
• What treatment is available for eating disorders?
• What can I do to help?

• Media influences
• Athletics
• Body Image / Self Esteem
• Genetics
• Personality types

Journal entry: journal on how you view your own body. How do you feel about your body? Do you want to change anything about your body? Do you compare your body to others or what you see on TV or in ads? Do you feel pressure to be a certain weight or look a certain way?

Create an informational poster: design a poster or ad that defines the different types of eating disorders, some signs and symptoms, and the treatments available.

Reflection: write a one page (double-spaced) reflection on what you have learned about eating disorders from doing this project. Was doing this project helpful to you in any way? What do you feel you got out of doing this project?

Your friend has become very critical of her weight. She is constantly comparing herself to others and has cut out pictures of thin models that she put on her refrigerator. You also notice that she often skips lunch at school, and when she does eat, she immediately goes to the bathroom after. Recently, while looking for a piece of gum in her backpack, you find a bottle of diet pills.

Your friend becomes extremely thin, but complains she is overweight. She has started a very strict diet (always being concerned about the amount of calories she is consuming) and workout program that involves two hours of working out twice a day. During class you notice she is always tired and one day while waiting for the bus she fainted.

You have noticed that one of your friends has been very sad and reserved lately. She has also had many fluctuations in her weight as well as low self-esteem. You try and comfort your friend and make her feel better, but she is convinced that the only way she will be happy is if she can lose some weight.

You have noticed that your friend eats very little for lunch, but when you go over to her house for dinner you see her eat extremely large amounts of food. In addition, many of many of her conversations lately are focused on body image and wanting to be thin. Lately she has even stopped participating in some activities because she feels embarrassed of her weight.

• Identify and define the eating disorder
• List the signs and symptoms
• Decide who you will discuss the problem with (family members of friend, teacher, school counselor, health professional etc.)
• Decide what kind of action you will take to help your friend (treatment etc.)

Student work will be evaluated on the following rubric: