'Eating disorders are mental health issues'

Diana Reid is a registered dietitian and nutritionist, licensed to practice in both the United States and Luxembourg. Her business, The Global Dietitian, offers personalised nutrition consultations for individuals and families, while also providing educational webinars and training for corporate clients.

Eating disorders have been on the rise over the last couple of decades. This is why it is so important to her to educate the public on this topic and to provide support for people dealing with a variety of food-related health issues, including gut issues, food allergies and intolerances. Diana also specialises in eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and ARFID.

When asked about the causes of the rise in eating disorders, Diana admits that the pandemic has had a big impact on the mental health of teens. The omnipresence of social media and its impact on self-perception has not helped the situation, either.

The causes behind eating disorders are multi-factorial: personality characteristics, genetics, stress, trauma, other mental health disorders, along with external influences (peers, social media,etc) contribute too.

Diana holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, a post-baccalaureate in Nutrition Sciences and a masters degree in Public Health & Nutrition from accredited universities in the US.

In her work, Diana values a collaborative approach to treatment; often partnering with medical doctors, therapists and psychiatrists to help support eating disorder recovery.

Together with dietitian Kate Sweeney, based in Germany, Diana is offering for the first time a series of Zoom support groups for English-speaking teens who are dealing with issues related to disordered eating. To lessen the social pressure that often accompanies eating disorders, participants are not required to turn on their camera.

Diana also stresses that she will be making sure that everyone feels like they’re in a safe place and the groups will hopefully provide the mental support that is needed. However, she also admits that these sessions will not take the place of regular treatments - they are rather an ‘add-on’.

These confidential, online peer-to-peer support groups begin April 26 and run weekly for six weeks.  There is still time to join if you are looking for support.

You can learn more about Diana and her support group via her website at www.theglobaldietitian.com or her email address diana@theglobaldietitian.com. You can also follow her via @theglobalRD on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Check out the whole interview here on RTL Play or listen to it on the player below.