'The Great Jeans Giveaway' An Event To Celebrate Eating Disorders Awareness Week

National Eating Disorders Association
Friday, 1 February 2002

During Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW - February 24 through March 3, 2002) students at schools nationwide will participate in the Great Jeans Giveaway, which reminds us, "Don't fight your genes, just change your jeans!" Through the Great Jeans Giveaway, the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and local group chapters hope to influence the public to think twice about the fit vs. fashion dilemma, and the pressures of our ‘thin is in' culture's unattainable standards of beauty. Instead, the National Eating Disorders Association is encouraging people to change the size of their jeans to fit their genes. Jeans collected are donated to teen shelters, made into new items such as quilts or sold to consignment shops with proceeds given to NEDA to continue their work to end eating disorders.

Across the country February 24 – March 3, individuals and communities will be participating in events to raise awareness about body image and eating issues during Eating Disorders Awareness Week. The National Eating Disorders Association, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Seattle, sponsors the Week in hopes of increasing the awareness and prevention of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. During National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, the Association challenges people to carefully consider and even work to improve their own body attitudes with their slogan, "Don't Weigh Your Self-Esteem, It's What's Inside That Counts!"

The National Eating Disorders Association established National Eating Disorders Awareness Week in 1987 to help create a world where a person's value is not weighed in pounds on a scale -- a world where self-esteem is rooted in character and accomplishments rather than the size of one's jeans. The National Eating Disorders Association works to create a culture that accepts and celebrates diversity in body shapes and sizes.

The need for eating disorders prevention is clear. In the United States, 5-10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men are struggling with the devastating, life-threatening effects of eating disorders. At a sub-clinical level, 80% of American women are dissatisfied with their bodies.

For more information about the National Eating Disorders Association, Eating Disorders Awareness Week or the Great Jeans Giveaway, call 206-382-3587 or check out the NEDA website at www.NationalEatingDisorders.org

For more information, or to contact National Eating Disorders Association, see their website at: www.NationalEatingDisorders.org