The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #53149

Robyn Shumer, MPH, School of Public Health - Office of Public Health Practice, University of Medicine & Dentistry, 317 George Street, Suite 203, New Brunswick, NJ 08904, 732-235-9451, shumerrb@umdnj.edu

Eating disorders are more prevalent among females in the United States than ever before and are especially prominent among Jewish girls and women. Young girls are often dissatisfied with their bodies, experiment with dieting, and some continue on this path until they develop a clinical eating disorder. Many eating disorders manifest during early adolescence. This project was developed with the understanding that many young Jewish women attend religious school in preparation for their Bat Mitzvah, and thus interact on an individual and personal level with their religious institution’s Rabbi. The role of the family Rabbi in eating disorder intervention has not been explored. This project was designed to assess Rabbis' knowledge of eating disorders in order to determine what Jewish spirituality Rabbis perceive to help one suffering with an eating disorder, in an effort to design a social marketing brochure to inform Rabbis about eating disorders.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluating Rabbis' knowledge of the prevalence of eating disorders among Jewish women
• Evaluating Rabbis' knowledge of access to care for eating disorder treatments
• Using Rabbis' knowledge to develop therapeutic tools for patients
• Developing a social marketing campaging geared toward Rabbis, that will make seeking care recommendations to women with eating disorders
• Making recommendations for further/future educational programming for Rabbis

Keywords: Mental Health, Religion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.