I think what would be very helpful is to have first-line physicians—primary care physicians, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists in the community—be aware of eating disorders, the current evidence around eating disorders, and the evidence-based treatments, so that when parents notice something's wrong with their children, they actually get up-to-date information early. That would be helpful. In terms of public awareness, the focus seems to be on the environmental aspects, media and things like that. What would be more helpful is to have more of a public awareness around the biological and genetic factors that contribute, because those are, I think, what parents can see first.
Had I known that hereditary factors are so important and that a history of eating disorders in your family raises a child's possibility of being diagnosed with an eating disorder, it would have been helpful information for me to know. As I said, she wasn't really influenced by the media. She was 10. There wasn't a lot of thin-ideal internalization on her part, but we did have a history of eating disorders in our family. I'm adopted and I found that out later.