Abstract
This article discusses two recent projects concerned with the problem of eating disorders and their prevention: One, an initiative of the NSW Department of School Education, examined the possibilities for prevention in schools. The other, the author's doctoral research on recovery from anorexia nervosa, explored the ways in which recovery takes place. Both took as their starting point the social aspects of eating disorders. The article discusses existing models of prevention. It outlines the aims, methods and findings of the NSW project, including what was discovered about students' self-image and attitudes to their bodies, the sources of information available to them concerning the problem, its relation to competitive sport, and the anxieties about it which were expressed by teachers and parents. It is argued that a study of recovery can make a strong contribution to preventive strategies. Participants in the second project, spoke of their own recovery as a rediscovery of meaning in their lives through access to ‘myths’ and ‘rituals’. This finding is explained in both sociological and recent scientific terms. The author concludes that an understanding of the factors present in recovery from an eating disorder can provide a blueprint for prevention.
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