BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Each month, “WBZ Cares” highlights a worthy non-profit organization and tells the story of what that organization does for the community. This month WBZ is profiling MEDA (Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association) in Newton which works to prevent the continuing spread of eating disorders through education and early detection.
MEDA Executive Director Leslie Bernstein says eating disorders can affect anyone.
“Typically, it was thought of just a woman’s issue or a girl’s issue and it really isn’t. If you talk to any person in our society, everybody is concerned with their appearance, their weight, their clothes size, and a lot of that has to do with society pressures, movies, TV,” stated Bernstein.
Bernstein says middle school students can be especially vulnerable to negative body image, which can lead to eating disorders.
“Everybody just wants to fit in. Everybody just wants to be accepted. And appearance is so prevalent in this country. And so when you don’t feel accepted, or you don’t feel like you look like the other person, you try and do all kinds of things to make that happen,” Bernstein said.
Bernstein says the work MEDA does is valuable to the community.
“If we can affect a couple of teens, if we can affect a couple of parents, if we can affect a couple of doctors or nurses, and awareness is raised about that, it goes very, very far, and I’ve seen that and I’ve felt it and I really believe that MEDA is unique in having that community impact,” Bernstein concluded.
WBZ NewsRadio1030's Doug Cope Reports