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Opportunity: Annual conference for NEDAwareness (National Eating Disorder
Association) week
Audience: Collection of 100 or so lobbyists, professional doctors and
psychologists, and grant donors who were invited to attend this conference
Venue: A conference hall at NEDA headquarters in Seattle, WA. Podium at
front for a variety of speakers. This speech is particularly important since
speaker is Lynn Grefe, president and CEO of NEDA, the hosting organization.
Good afternoon, and thank you for that
introduction. I am honored to be speaking to
you on behalf of the wonderful organization:
NEDA, the National Eating Disorders
Association.
Thank you for coming to our weekend-long
conference. I hope you are enjoying not only
the presentations up here, but also the
copious amounts of food we’ve provided... So
please, if in the middle of my speech you’d
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like to stand up and grab another fruit or cup
of coffee in the back, I will not be offended.
I would like to start by sharing a story about
a boy named James.
James was nine years old when he started
being picked on for his appearance.
Classmates said his glasses were too small for
his head, his pants too short for his growing
legs, and his friends too imaginary to ever
become real.
While middle school bullying dragged on,
James decided to take control over something
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he knew he could: his eating. James was
convinced that by starving himself, he’d
improve his social status.
When James’ mother noticed his weight loss,
she was concerned. But the diagnosis of an
eating disorder was never considered for this
young male, and the physical changes were
chalked up to puberty and growth spurts.
But along with physical weight, James lost
bone density, muscle strength, overall daily
energy, emotion regulation, hydration, his
hair, and his healthy heart rate and blood
pressure – All common occurrences seen with
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eating disorders. James was also showing
signs of comorbidity, and admitted to having
suicidal thoughts.
By the time James’ case was severe enough
to bring him to medical care, doctors could
only do so much. James needed in-patient
rehabilitation. However, there was no way his
family could pay for this treatment on their
own.
Because treatment would take place in a
residential recovery facility, and not a
licensed ‘hospital’, insurance plans would not
provide any aid.
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For James, the systems in place were not
enough. And that is the reason I’m talking to
you today.
Everyone in this room has heard the numbers
by now: James is one of the 30 million people
to suffer from a clinically significant eating
disorder at some point in their lives.
While anorexia nervosa is most common,
disordered eating also includes bulimia
nervosa, binge eating disorders, and eating
disorders ‘not otherwise specified’.
These mental illnesses are affecting all
genders, all ages, and all ethnicities.
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So focusing on, for example, one age bracket
of adolescent females, is not enough.
Eating disorders have the highest mortality
rate of any mental illness, yet are severely
underfunded for any adequate research.
According to the National Institutes of Health,
“Research dollars spent on Alzheimer’s
Disease averaged 88 dollars per affected
individual in 2011. For Schizophrenia, the
amount was 81 dollars. For autism, 44
dollars. For eating disorders, the average
amount of research dollars per affected
individual was 93 cents.” This is not enough.
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This puts research for eating disorders in a
difficult place, but more importantly, puts the
individuals fighting the diseases in an
impossible place.
Treating an eating disorder, including therapy
and medical monitoring, costs between 500
and 2000 dollars, per DAY. That averages to
costing around half a million dollars yearly.
The cost of this treatment is way out of the
majority of the American population’s
budgets.
And what insurance companies are providing:
it is not enough.
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The sad truth is that of those who do receive
treatment, about 50 percent will still relapse.
This suggests that eating disorders are
persistent, debilitating, and long-lasting
illnesses that are short on proper recovery
treatments. What we are giving these
struggling individuals as education, and as
treatment, is not enough.
Eating disorders affect everyone, they are
unrealistically costly and severely
underfunded. They are lengthy to battle and
recover from.
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If we want to see change, both education and
research around eating disorders must be
improved.
Because the resources we currently have are
not enough. They were not enough for James,
and they won’t be enough for the next year of
victims, or year after that.
I ask that after attending this conference, and
hearing my speech today, I have lit at least
some small fire under your seat to strive for
having enough! For the treatment that those
struggling deserve. This can be reached on
the federal funding level all the way down to
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the small charities for change, and even to
the individuals like James and his family.
Please note that all donations collected this
weekend are directly going to research and
treatment opportunities.
Thank you so much for listening, and for
joining NEDA’s fight for enough!