Love Our Bodies Love Ourselves Events

PEDAW 2022 Events and Activities

The Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness (PEDAW) campaign is launched every year from February 1st – 7th with activities and events taking place throughout the year.  It is a province-wide effort, brought to you by Jessie’s Legacy Eating Disorders Prevention & Awareness, a program of Family Services of the North Shore, to raise awareness around prevention and early intervention of eating disorders as well as media literacy, resiliency, building healthy body image and self-esteem.

We hope you can take an active role to support the launch of this movement and start some meaningful and engaging discussions, as well as activities at your school, with your family or at your workplace.

Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2022 Press Release

Many of the risk factors that contribute to developing eating disorders are alarmingly widespread among youth and exacerbated by pandemic conditions.  These include social isolation, lack of structure, limited access to fitness and wellness supports, increased time on social media, increased exposure to diet and fitness trends and exposure to unrealistic depictions of ideal bodies. People in recovery or currently experiencing struggles with their eating or body image are also finding that these factors are worsening current symptoms, contributing to the onset of new ones, or even kickstarting a full-blown eating disorder. 

Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2022 Press Release

February 2, 2022: Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses Webinar 

While the pandemic shifted the world into a state of transition, it continues to have a unique impact on the lives of university students. This conversation with Jessie’s Legacy will delve into experiences of transition, and the variety of experiences that brings up in relation to food, body image, and coping with uncertainty. We aim to give participants a common language around eating disorders and disordered eating, explore the impact of the pandemic on university students with and without eating disorders, and how to build capacity in responding to and supporting students. With an emphasis on dialogue and connection, we will look at answering:

  •     How did this time impact your own relationship with your body?
  •     How do you think it might have been for someone who is first experiencing struggle versus for someone who was already struggling?
  •     What does it look like when someone is struggling and how do you offer them support?
  •     What are some of the challenges and barriers experienced on campus?

This talk will provide space for folks of all experience and knowledge levels to engage in conversation around creating awareness, community, and support on campus for students struggling with disordered eating and eating disorders.

About Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses 

Healthy Minds | Healthy Campuses (HM|HC) is a province-wide community of practice, learning and working together to promote mental wellness and healthier relationships with substances within BC post-secondary institutions. This campus-based initiative engages students, service staff, faculty and administrators in a collaborative and innovative endeavor to build capacity and sustained mechanisms to advance well-being. HM|HC attempts to draw on sound theory and broad research as well as local experience and insight to enhance campus culture and shape environments conducive to all members thriving. Equipping them individually and collectively to contribute to the wellness of communities they now and will belong to is a vital part of the post-secondary educational mandate to develop productive citizens and leaders. HM|HC endorses and promotes implementation of the Okanagan Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges. Canadian Mental Health Association BC Division and Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research together provide a Support Team for this community of practice.

HM|HC Talks are intended to be dialogical in nature. They include a stimulus presentation followed by posing questions and breakout room discussion around those questions

Please note that this Zoom meeting will be recorded to make it available for those who are unable to attend or wish to hear it again. The breakout sessions within the Talk, however, won’t be recorded.

Presenters: 

 

Vicky Gerlings

Vicky (she/they) is a practicum student at Jessies Legacy, competing her Master of Counselling Psychology. Vicky has years of experience working in the non-profit sector and is continuously seeking opportunities to increase the trauma-informed capacity of organizations. She believes firmly that people are the experts of their own experiences, and having recovered from her own eating disorder, is passionate about supporting young people in trying to make sense of their experiences, their bodies, and their sense of belonging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joanna Zelichowska

Joanna (she/her) is a registered clinical counsellor and manager of Jessie’s Legacy Eating Disorders Prevention and Awareness program where she works to educate youth, adults, educators, and health professionals about eating disorders and disordered eating. Joanna attended the University of British Columbia where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology. She feels passionately about reducing stigma about eating disorders by taking an inclusive approach to prevention and education that encompasses a holistic view of the individual.

 

 

 

 

 

Foundry BC Hosting Virtual PEDAW Panel

Foundry BC will be hosting a virtual panel Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness Week from February 1st – 7th. The event will focus on the lived experience of 4 individuals who have/had experience with an eating disorder/disordered eating.

Sign up by scanning the QR code below!

NEDIC’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week Resources 

NEDIC’s campaign this year aims to recognize that we all have a role to play in eating disorder prevention and recovery. Depending on who we are in a person’s life, the specifics of that role might differ. NEDIC has created tools to help you figure out the role you can play as you support yourself or someone else.

Access audience-specific resources like posters, conversation guides, and external resources.

People With Lived Experience: https://nedic.ca/edaw/edaw-people-with-lived-experience/ 

If You’re a Friend or Colleague Wanting to Support: https://nedic.ca/edaw/edaw-friends-and-colleagues/

If You’re a Caregiver: https://nedic.ca/edaw/edaw-caregivers/

If You’re a Mental Health Provider: https://nedic.ca/edaw/edaw-mental-health-providers/

If You’re an Educator: https://nedic.ca/edaw/edaw-educators/

Check Out BANA Magazine’s Newest Issue

The Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association is pleased to share our “BANA Be Yourself Magazine!” 

Check out BANA’s Winter 2022 issue featuring:

  • What is EDAW: Everyone Has a Role to Play
  • EDAW in Windsor Essex
  • Dear: Food Police
  • What Commenting On My Body After I Lost Weight Really Told Me
  • ED Treatment Within Indigenous Communities: Challenges and Opportunities
  • Doctors: Look for These Warning Signs of EDs
  • Balancing Recovery and Fitness
  • The Reality of Going Virtual: Re-engaging our youth
  • What is Anorexia Nervosa

Read the full magazine here: https://bana.ca/magazine/

#ShowPurpleLove on February 1-7, 2022 and share on Social Media:

WHEN: February 1 to February 7, 2022

WHERE: Across B.C.

1. Wear purple and/or our Love Our Bodies, Love Ourselves wristband from Feb. 1 to Feb. 7, 2022

2. Take a photo of yourself or a landmark that is lit up in the color purple. Have fun and be creative!

3. Share your photo on social media using the hashtag #ShowPurpleLove #ShowUsYourPurple

We encourage you to use our captions or to share your own! Be sure to use our hashtags #ShowPurpleLove and #ShowUsYourPurple and tag @loveourbodies to help spread the message this year

We will share your social media posts all week long! If you would like to request a free wristband and live within BC, email us at pedaw@familyservices.bc.ca to order your free wristbands.

Check Out Landmarks Across BC Lighting Up Purple:

WHEN: February 1 – February 7, 2022

WHERE: Across B.C.

Our community partners light up in purple every year to show their support for Provincial Eating Disorders Awareness Week!

Thank you to our community partners:

BC Parliament Buildings in Victoria, BC Place, Bloedel Conservatory, Campbell River Community Centre, Centennial Park in Fort St. John, City Hall of Vancouver, Burrard Street Bridge, Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam, Nanaimo Bastion, Surrey City Hall Plaza, City Hall of Port Moody, Port Moody Civic Centre, Revelstoke Performing Arts Centre, Canada Place, Science World at TELUS World of Science, Town of Comox, University of Northern British Columbia, District of Oak Bay, and White Rock Pier.

1. Snap a photo of a landmark lit up in purple during February 1 – 7, 2022

2. Share your photo on social media using the hashtags #ShowPurpleLove #edaw2022 and tag us @loveourbodiesloveourselves

3. Enjoy!

 

Download our free “Your Weight is Not Your Worth Poster” below!

 

Click here to downloadable a printable version of our poster

Help spread awareness by displaying this important message in your home, work, school, or community space!