Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital gearing up for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital:

“Eating disorders are prevalent on college campuses, and Stanford is no exception”

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford is gearing up for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Feb. 21 – 27. The hospital's Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program is reaching out to Bay Area families to enhance knowledge of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related diagnoses.

On Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m., Packard Children's will host a community symposium, “It’s Time to Talk About It,” an event designed to help parents learn the warning signs of eating disorders and understand the process for seeking help when a child, adolescent or young adult needs treatment.

"It’s a chance for parents to interact with experts whose work is dedicated to of the treatment of eating disorders," said James Lock, MD, PhD, eating disorders researcher and director of psychiatric services in the Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program. Lock is also a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The symposium, including a question and answer session, will be held in the Packard Children's auditorium and feature presentations by hospital experts:

- Lock will present the latest treatment options for eating disorders, with emphasis on how families can help their child recover.

- Neville Golden, MD, division chief of adolescent medicine and professor of pediatrics at Stanford, will discuss the risks and warning signs of an eating disorder.

- Thea Kapphahn, MD, medical director of the Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program, will explain the acute and chronic health impacts of eating disorders.

- Psychologist Kara Fitzpatrick, PhD, will present new insights into the neurobiological basis of eating disorders.

“Packard has a wealth of clinical and research experience in the treatment of children and adolescents with eating disorders,” said Golden, “and it’s important to share this information with the community.”

Inpatient and outpatient treatment at Packard Children’s includes diagnostic evaluation, medical management of complications, psychiatric evaluation and therapy, nutrition assessment and treatment, and coordination with the patient's school or work. Importantly, these services were recently extended to students of Stanford University in a new collaborative between the hospital and Stanford's Vaden Health Center.

"Eating disorders are prevalent on college campuses, and Stanford is no exception," said Kapphahn, who spearheaded the new partnership.

Specialists from Packard Children's are now seeing eating disorder patients weekly at Vaden, and are collaborating with Vaden's medical staff to devise comprehensive treatment plans. Students requiring inpatient treatment are hospitalized in the Packard Children's inpatient unit at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View and can participate in research projects evaluating treatment methods.

"Treating eating disorders is very complicated and best accomplished through a multi-disciplinary approach," said Robyn Tepper, MD, the director of medical services at Vaden Health Center. "Having access to the specialists from Packard Children’s gives us the opportunity to broaden our expertise and resources, and this is very important to our student population."