For all you dieticians/nutritionists

[kima]

I read an interesting article in the National Post newspaper today about the high number of nutrionalists and eating disorder counsellors who are recovering anorexics. The article states that many people with eating disorders, who are obsessed with all food related things, study nutrition etc. in order to understand themseleves.
I gather from the article there is some contoversy over whether it is good for former anorexics to counsel others-yes they are sympathetic but they may also not be fully recovered (apparently only 25% of anorexics are ever completely cured) and talking about it can trigger their own disorder.One woman who is director of an eating disorder clinic argues that the eating disorder sufferer's interest in nutrition is more often symptomatic of the eating disorder. When she hired her staff she was not allowed to ask about past eating problems but later 25% of her staff came to her to tell her about their disorders.
I have absolutely no opinion on this-I just found it interesting and thought I'd share with those of you in this field.:)
here is a link to the story http://www.nationalpost.com/artslife/story.html?id={5D4F350E-7416-485F-AD42-C273E9B17ED4}
Well i just tried that link and it didn't work. If you go to www.nationalpost.com and click on Arts and Life you see it.

[Svadhisthana]

I'm not a nutritionist but, as a person who has an eating disorder I found this interesting. I say "has" and not "had" because I believe, like an alcoholic, a person with an eating disorder always has it even if they are "recovered". On one hand I can see it being benificial to the client. I'm sure nutritionists and dietitions are trained to notice red flags of eating disorders but, a person who had been there, done that would have an edge. On the other hand I think it would be potentialy harmful for the recovery. Working with that information every day and even helping others lose weight might act as a trigger for more negative eating behavior for the individual.

[wallycat]

I am totally food absorbed...but also a science nut...I thought the two had dietitian written all over it :D
I must say that my graduating class (including the professors) had a lot of either VERY skinny or quite large people....

I fall into the "tend to eat more" category.
I've never had the anorexic issue. I think if push came to shove, I'd be more likely to be bulimic--but even that thought grosses me out.
I didn't read the article yet so don't want to be too hasty in my comments, but I"m sure every field draws people from it that border with the problems they've come to solve. In some ways, this can be a good thing because they better understand what their patients are going through...but everything in moderation I guess.

[BlueMoose]

I went to school for 3 years studying food and nutrition, and I have to say there were definitely a disproportionate number of "screwy in the head about eating"-type people (including yours truely:o ) in my classes.

[beccathebaker]

I had to chime in here!

I got my degree in nutrition because as a young cancer survivor, I wanted to know all there was to know about eating to prevent illness. When you think about it, someone who is recovering from an illness (such as an eating disorder) is probably trying to do the same thing. Prevent others from going through the same type of pain that they've been through.

I do think that many people in my class had "eating issues"- but in today's society- who doesn't? I am not saying that someone with an active eating disorder should become a nutritionist, but someone who is healing would probably be the most empathetic counselor.

I must admit though that the cut throat feeling of my nutrition curriculum was what ultimately made me decide to go into culinary arts and consulting rather than clinical nutrition.

-Becca

[penguin]

Bummer, I can't find the story anymore:( I went to the Arts & Life section but didn't see it. Do they only keep them there for one day???