Dear readers,
The topic of eating disorders in the Orthodox Jewish community first piqued my curiosity after reading this [TRIGGER WARNING: This article deals with the topic of eating disorders and may be triggering to some people] article in Tablet Magazine over the summer. The article describes how prevalent the disorders are in our community – and I soon began to see how neglected the problem was. According to one study mentioned in the article, 1 in 19 girls in an Orthodox Jewish high school in Brooklyn suffered from an eating disorder, 50 percent higher than the national average.
Before our community begins to fully address this often ignored subject, it is crucially important for us to listen to those suffering. As an open platform for the Orthodox Jewish community committed to free speech, we at The Beacon Magazine volunteer to give these people a voice.
A Note To Our Audience: We are dealing with a highly sensitive topic, so please read these articles with caution. Some of the material is graphic, and it can potentially set off triggers in people who are already struggling with a disorder. Also for this reason, we have chosen to exclude a comments section after several of these articles.
Sincerely,
Aryeh Younger
Check out these articles about eating disorders:
Living with Bulimia: An Interview