INTRODUCTION[1]

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (“the Committee”) agreed in November 2013 to study eating disorders among girls and women in Canada. The Committee adopted the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee conduct a study of eating disorders amongst girls and women, including the nature of these diseases, what treatments are providing the most relief to patients and where they are available, how family physicians can learn more about eating disorders and how to treat them, what roadblocks exist to better serve girls and women with eating disorders, and what resources relevant stakeholders need to improve the lives of these patients.

The Committee was briefed by officials from Status of Women Canada, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The Committee received testimony from 27 witnesses – 4 appearing as individuals and the remainder representing 20 organizations – over a total of 9 meetings held from November 28, 2013 to March 5, 2014. In addition, the Committee received briefs from a number of organizations, many of which had also appeared before the Committee, along with follow-up responses to questions by Committee members.

This report summarizes evidence gathered during the study on eating disorders and examines a number of themes that emerged during the Committee’s meetings. These themes, in turn, serve to underpin the report’s recommendations included at the end of certain chapters in the report.

The importance of this study was recognized by both Committee members and witnesses. The study shines a spotlight on an often marginalized and misunderstood mental health disorder which affects approximately 600,000 to 990,000 individuals, plus their families, at any given time in Canada. As Dr. Blake Woodside, Medical Director for the Program for Eating Disorders at the Toronto General Hospital, explained:

[Y]ou need to know that the work of the committee is very important in a whole other arena, in that it offers hope to both those who suffer and their families, hope that change can occur in our system of care, hope that the discrimination and stigmatizing attitudes can be reduced, and hope that the suffering associated with these conditions can be eliminated.[2]