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| 2012 FORUM SPONSORS:
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Anonymous
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Feinberg, Rozen, LLP
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The Fischman Family – Nancy, Steve, Ben, Wendy, Laura
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Nancy Harris
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Joseph L. Johnson III
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The Karp Family Foundation
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Lawrence J. and Anne Rubenstein Charitable Foundation
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Camille and Ian Schmidek
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15th Annual Public Forum
Health is Beauty: DEFINING OURSELVES
On April 2, 2012, nearly 600 students, parents, educators and members of the press gathered at The Memorial Church, Harvard University for our 15th Public Forum, “Health is Beauty: Defining Ourselves.” During the course of the evening, our panelists shared their perspectives on beauty, the media and eating disorders and discussed ways to encourage positive self-image across society.
The program opened with Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post Media Group, who shared that her determination to promote beauty as health stems from her experiences with her two daughters, both of whom struggled with eating disorders. In addressing the challenge of eating disorder advocacy and education, Ms. Huffington explained that The Huffington Post’s approach to promoting positive body image is rooted in her belief that “nothing is more powerful than young women talking to other young women.”
Expanding on the theme of establishing dialogue between young people, Vogue Italia Editor-in Chief Franca Sozzani described her strong stance against “pro-ana” and “pro-mia” websites (Internet content that supports anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa) and invited everyone to sign her petition or to start a blog against these potentially harmful sites with the goal of closing them. Ms. Sozzani also highlighted the importance of individuality in the fashion industry and beyond: “We need not only to accept ourselves, but also to embrace ourselves,” she said.
Internationally renowned supermodel Doutzen Kroes pointed out that she was pressured to lose weight early in her career but asserted her right to lead a healthy lifestyle, and now encourages other models – and young women everywhere – to express their beauty in their own individual ways. Ms. Kroes was a keynote speaker at a 2010 event hosted by the Council of Fashion Designers of America to address concerns about the increasing number of unhealthy, too-thin models.
Fashion icon and actress Amber Valletta spoke via video from the set of Revenge in Los Angeles, emphasizing the importance of raising eating disorders awareness – a topic close to her heart.
Next, Harris Center Founder David B. Herzog, M.D. provided valuable information about eating disorders. In particular, he noted that parents are not the cause of their child's eating disorder. Many factors contribute to the development of these disorders. There are precipitants such as stress and loss, and there are core risk factors such as perfectionism, obsessionality, anxiety and mood disorders, and genetic predisposition. “Parents need support too,” he emphasized.
After the panelists addressed questions from the audience, Dr. Herzog closed the program on an energizing, memorable note. “Let’s team up,” he said. “Let’s build a healthy community one individual at a time.”
We received many comments from individuals who attended the Forum. For example:
- “I learn a lot each time. The point about pained parents blaming themselves was perfect. How hard we can all be on ourselves.”
- “The women speakers were phenomenal and their sense of humor just added to the strength of the evening! I feel like I'm an advocate in the making!!”
We also heard from parents who were impressed with our Teen Mentors at the Forum and are eager to set up teen mentor programs elsewhere in the state.
Reviews of the Forum by media outlets such as Boston Magazine, The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald were highly positive. We were thrilled that Her Campus – an online magazine for college students – and Bodimojo – a body image website for teens – helped spread the word about our Forum.
Don’t miss Breaking the Silence (by Dr. David Herzog), which is published in the “Healthy Living” section of The Huffington Post.
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| Left to right: Doutzen Kroes, Dr. Herzog, Franca Sozzani, Arianna Huffington |
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Arianna Huffington at the Podium
Both photos above by Roger Farrington |
This page was updated on June 16, 2012.
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