32 | JANUARY 27 • 2022 

E 

ating disorders can be 
serious health problems 
but often are unrecog-
nized or misunderstood. Dini 
Peterson, chief program offi-
cer, Family and Community 
Services, 
Jewish Family 
Service (JFS) of 
Metropolitan 
Detroit, says 
that 9% of the 
American popu-
lation is believed 
to have an eating disorder — 
two-thirds of them girls and 
women. Eating disorders such 
as anorexia, bulimia and binge 
eating are most common among 
adolescent girls, but boys and 
men also may struggle with 
such problems, she explains.
JFS recently received a one-
year $20,000 grant from the 
Jewish Women’s Foundation of 
Metro Detroit primarily to train 
clinicians and educate the com-
munity about eating disorders. 
The goal is to help parents raise 
children who have an emotion-
ally and physically healthy rela-
tionship with food. 
During National Eating 

Disorder Week—Feb. 21-27, 
2022, JFS will offer free educa-
tional programs for teens (Feb. 
22) and for parents and other 
adults (Feb. 24) via Zoom. (See 
sidebar.) The curriculum will 
focus on preventing “disordered 
eating” and helping individuals 
develop a positive body image. 
“Eating disorders may be 
underdiagnosed in some groups 
and JFS is conducting more 
training to help our staff recog-
nize signs and symptoms. We 
want JFS therapists to recognize 
eating disorders even if their cli-
ents are accessing treatment for 
a different reason. Food issues 
increased during the pandemic 
because there was more stress 
and isolation. Who doesn’t feel 
out of control?” Peterson says. 

BODY IMAGE AND 
JEWISH CULTURE
Peterson points out that society 
and the media present messag-
es about body image and diet 
culture that can encourage indi-
viduals to view themselves in a 
negative way and compensate 
with detrimental eating habits. 
 Jewish individuals may face 

particular eating challenges due 
to a cultural focus on food that 
can feel at odds with societal 
pressure to be thin,
” she adds. 
 JFS has connected with Marcy 
Forta, Ed.D., a holistic nutrition-
ist, who has provided training in 
Jewish day schools and for JFS 
staff. Forta, who overcame an 
eating disorder in 
her teens, focuses 
on driving aware-
ness, education and 
prevention in the 
Jewish community, 
especially among 
Orthodox individ-
uals. 
“Food is important in Jewish 

life, and we experience signif-
icant perfectionist pressure to 
adhere to a super woman ideal,
” 
Forta says. She cites the impor-
tance of young Jewish women 
feeling pressure to be attractive 
in order to make a good shid-
duch.
“Being thin as an ideal is 
more important in Jewish 
communities,
” Forta explains. 
She stresses the importance of 
“appreciating your unique self 
or essence (atzmi in Hebrew).
” 
Forta has founded a nonprofit 
organization — atzmi.org — 
to help educate and change 
attitudes within the Orthodox 
community with help from JFS. 
Too often “we moralize food 
and use it as a reward, which 
can be very dangerous. Food is 
not good or bad. It’s a gift from 
God,
” she says.
“There is a lot of 
misinformation about eating 
disorder signs and symptoms. 
You don’t have to look 
emaciated to have one. And 
there is stigma about mental 
health, and families can be 
secretive about eating disorders,
” 
Forta explains.
Peterson says that therapy for 
eating disorders — which can 
include individual or family-
based treatment — can be very 
successful. When necessary, JFS 
therapists can refer patients to 
specialists in the field and to 
residential treatment facilities 
through their network, which 
includes kosher options. 

Jewish Women’s Foundation grant will expand 
education and training to prevent eating disorders.

JFS to Educate on 
 Disordered Eating

Dini 
Peterson

Marcy 
Forta

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

Educational Events for National 
Eating Disorder Week
Jewish Family Service and Jewish Federation of 
Metropolitan Detroit are presenting these Zoom events:

For Tweens, Teens & Young Adults 
#RealTalk: A Conversation about Mental Health and 
Body Image with Victoria Garrick
Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. https://jlive.app/events/1491

For Parents & Youth Professionals 
Eating Disorder Advice from the Experts: What Parents 
and Youth Professionals Need to Know
Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. https://jlive.app/events/1488

