ERC & Pathlight In the News

In this piece, Dr. Elizabeth Wassenaar shares insight with MarketWatch about the dangers of GLP-1 medications and their impact to the eating disorder community and especially adolescents. Dr. Wassenaar shared: “The adolescent mental health crisis is unprecedented,” said Wassenaar, with many teens suffering severe mood disorders, eating disorders, and suicidality, and teens struggling with depression may think, 'If I lose weight, I’ll feel better and people will like me. There’s this magic drug, and all I have to do is inject it.'” And if patients can start taking these drugs as early as 12 years of age, “We just don’t know what that’s going to do to them in 10 or 20 years,” she said, because there’s not enough long-term data.

This article in The Seattle Medium discusses the misconceptions and barriers to accessing eating disorder treatment for women of color and includes interviews from Project Heal and quotes from ERC's Megan Riddle.

This article from Giddy, a follow up from an earlier genetics and eating disorders piece, features Dr. Harry Brandt and discusses what a metabo-psychiatric illness is, and how this applies to anorexia.

Focusing on research conducted by the UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine, the article discusses how genetics can be attributed to eating disorders. Dr. Harry Brandt shared his insight noting that continued research around the subject will provide a better understanding of the illness as well as the development of new treatments. ​

This Boston Herald article focuses on the changes to the AAP guidelines. With perspective from someone with lived experience, the article discusses the potential negative impact these new guidelines may have. ERC's Jane Zeltser is featured in the piece.

This insightful piece about body grief features Meredith Nisbet and outlines strategies for coping. Nisbet suggests leaning into the grief noting, "Body grief is the same as any other kind of grief. The more time you spend trying to pretend it's not happening, the longer you're going to keep experiencing it, and the more intense it will be."

ERC National Clinical Response Manager Meredith Nisbet was quoted in this article about recent discussions on TikTok about being "Midsized" on Well + Good. In the piece, Nisbet contributes to the conversation noting, "'Midsize' is describing a group of folks who don't experience the stigma or limitations in navigating the world that fat folks do, but are carving out space to highlight their body image concerns and feelings of inadequacy compared to the thin ideal."

Dr. Allison Chase shares insight in this Parents Magazine article with caregivers who are curious about the right age to share with their children they struggled with body issues. In the article, Chase shares with the author, to answer "matter-of-factly and clearly. If she asks no more, then no need to answer more until she keeps asking - and only if she wants to know."

Dr. Allison Chase shares insight in this article on Fatherly.com about the impact of social media on disordered eating. With TikTok feeds of "What I eat in a day," kids are bombarded with unrealistic and unhealthy images. Dr. Chase shares tips with caregivers on what to do if they are concerned about their child's eating, body image, or mood.

This article featured in KFF Health News outlines how social media influencers, celebrities, and marketing companies are advertising GLP1s as weight loss drugs (such as Ozempic) and discusses the money behind the business. In this piece, Dr. Elizabeth Wassenaar is quoted sharing why these advertisements are problematic.