Mental Health Week 6-12 October 2013
As the number of Australians with eating disorders continues to rise, Tasmanians are being told to ‘leave the
scales to the fish’, which is the title of this year’s Tasmania Recovery from Eating Disorders’ (TRED) breakfast
event, held as part of Mental Health Week 2013.
Executive Officer of TRED Jo Cook, who was herself diagnosed with an eating disorder in her 40s, said the
breakfast aimed to raise awareness within the Tasmanian community about the importance of providing
support to those affected by eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating.
“Up to 86 per cent of people with eating disorders have depression and around 64 per cent will also suffer from
anxiety, so rather than turning a blind eye to the issue we need to understand it and encourage people to seek
professional support,” Ms Cook said.
Ms Cook said TRED was excited to welcome the CEO of the Butterfly Foundation, Christine Morgan, as guest
speaker to the Hobart breakfast event.
“The Butterfly Foundation endeavours to help people foster positive body image, strong self-esteem, resilience
and a healthy attitude towards food and exercise and it’s a privilege to work with TRED to help achieve this,” Ms
Morgan said.
St Michael’s Collegiate College is fundraising and developing a Facebook page to support TRED called “Leave the
Scales to the Fish” (www.facebook.com/LeaveTheScalesToTheFish).
Executive Officer of TRED Jo Cook
