The Last Word on Eating Disorders Prevention

For the first time in one volume, many of the world’s most esteemed eating disorders prevention experts share their opinions and recommendations about future directions for the field. Employing "The Last Word" format of writing concise editorials about a focused area of research, authors from four countries contribute thirteen chapters with diverse points of view. The approaches range from large scale, macro-environmental calls for change through public policy to the more intimate promotion of positive youth identity for buffering against eating disorders. Included are retrospective looks at the development of prevention programs with an eye toward best practices moving forward, calls for integrating eating disorders interventions with existing efforts in the obesity and health promotion fields, examples of successful change through public policy and social justice, and a cry for gender inclusiveness, which has missing in female dominated strategies. More personal-level recommendations look at the efficacy of mindfulness, yoga, intuitive eating and exercise, and the importance of forming healthy self-identity. Informed by decades of investigation, the authors―all of whom have conducted numerous studies, programs, and research projects―offer the insights they’ve learned and the lessons that they each believe will make a difference in reducing eating disorders. This book was originally published as a special issue of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention.

Leigh Cohn is the Editor-in-Chief of Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, and the co-author/editor of more than a dozen books. He has spoken on males and eating disorders at professional conferences and universities, and has received numerous awards from various eating disorders organizations.