Holiday season tough for people dealing with eating disorders

Dec. 09--The holidays can be especially stressful for someone struggling with an eating disorder.

Calls to the National Eating Disorder Association help line peak in November and December, the group reports. And even "healthy" eating, which soon will be at its yearly high due to New Year's resolutions, can take a grim turn as some people develop extreme or excessive preoccupations with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy.

The association lists 10 signs of a possible eating disorder:

--Drastic weight loss.

--Preoccupation with counting calories.

--The need to weigh oneself several times a day.

--Excessive exercise.

--Binge eating or purging.

--Food rituals, like taking tiny bites, skipping food groups or rearranging food on the plate.

--Avoiding meals or only wanting to eat alone.

--Taking laxatives or diuretics.

--Smoking to curb appetite.

--Persistent view of yourself as fat that worsens despite weight loss.

For more information or to seek treatment, call 800-931-2237 or visit www.MyNEDA.org.

Multicultural celebration

Western Reserve Hospital, in collaboration with Summa Health System, will host a free multicultural celebration of holiday traditions and cuisines at the annual "Sharing the Season" event from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Western Reserve auditorium, 1900 23rd St., Cuyahoga Falls.

Each year, Sharing the Seasons brings together nine holiday celebrations and observances from around the globe -- Our Lady of Guadalupe, Serbian traditions, Ramadan, Diwali, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Native American traditions, Kwanzaa and Christmas -- focusing on the meanings, traditions and food dishes.

Participants will receive a free recipe book.

Men in MSN program

Increasing numbers of men becoming nurses is not a new trend, but what Case Western Reserve University is seeing in its master's entry-nursing program this year is unusual: 11 of the 30 people, or more than 36 percent, are male.

Mary E. Kerr, dean of the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve, said the number normally falls somewhere around 9 or 10 percent of the class.

The program at Case Western Reserve is designed for students with non-nursing undergraduate degrees who want to pursue a career in nursing.

While the number of male nurses has more than tripled since the 1970s, all but about 330,000 of the 3.5 million nurses employed in 2011 were women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Katie Nix can be reached at 330-996-3216 or knix@thebeaconjournal.com. She can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KatieNix_ABJ.

___

(c)2014 the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at www.ohio.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC