LITTLE ROCK – Eating disorders in adolescents can lead to permanent physical damage, an issue that will be addressed by physicians, mental health experts and others during a Partners in Behavioral Health Sciences (PIBHS) course for teachers Wednesday, July 20, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

“ ‘I’ll be happy when I lose weight’ is the biggest myth facing women in America,” said Maria Portilla, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine and medical director of the Eating Disorder Clinic at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Portilla will be one of the presenters in the one-day PIBHS workshop, “The Spectrum of Eating Disorders: Biology, Psychology and Treatment.”

Portilla will be speaking at 9:20 a.m. and will be available for interviews immediately following. The workshop will be held in Pauley Auditorium in the UAMS College of Public Health. Parking is available in the north parking deck.

“People with eating disorders have significant medical problems and are usually very depressed. They aren’t happy,” clarified Portilla. Women’s bodies don’t stop growing until about age 18 and continue to add bone mass until around age 25. Eating disorders in adolescents can affect bone growth, fertility and can lead to early osteoporosis and other chronic conditions.

Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and compulsive eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa involves fear of gaining weight, distorted body image, and restricted eating with significant weight loss resulting in a lack of menstrual periods. Bulimia nervosa involves episodes of binge eating, often followed by self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, diuretic abuse or a combination of abuse. Compulsive eating disorder, where food is used as a coping mechanism to deal with uncomfortable feelings, creates health issues involving obesity.

 “Ana” websites tout eating disorders as a belief system or a right and encourage others to continue on their quest to lose as much weight as possible. Adolescents who have eating disorders rarely admit it to their parents or other adults and may even personify the disorder. Because of this, it can be very difficult to convince them that they must make changes in their lifestyle.

 Other topics to be covered in the workshop include:

10:30 a .m.      Eating Disorders in Adolescents: Psychological Factors

11:30 a.m.       Media Messages and Eating Disorders
 

12:45 p.m.       Abnormal Eating Behaviors, Binge Eating Disorder, Comfort Food

1:55 p.m.         Cultural Differences and Eating Disorders

2:55 p.m.         Panel Discussion on School-based Interventions to Combat Obesity                       

Partners in Behavioral Health Sciences (PIBHS) is a program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the UAMS College of Medicine. PIBHS focuses on mental health and substance use problems by providing current science-based information to school personnel working with children from kindergarten through high school. Its primary emphasis is on behavioral health issues affecting youth. It is offered through a collaboration of university- and community-based researchers and clinicians, primary and secondary teachers and other school personnel and students. 

 PIBHS is in its fifth summer of providing free workshops on the UAMS campus to educate the educators. It is funded by a Science Education Partnership Award grant from the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health. About 130 school personnel have registered for the course.

 UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has more than 2,200 students and 660 residents and is the state’s largest public employer with almost 9,000 employees. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.1 billion a year.

 UAMS centers of excellence are the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy and Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.