• News Releases
    • News Releases
    Media Advisory - A decade of progress in the field of eating disorders, but we still have far to go: Scotiabank presents the 10th Annual Sheena's Place Awareness Breakfast

    TORONTO, Feb. 7 /CNW/ - In marking the 10th Annual Sheena's Place Awareness Breakfast, presented by Scotiabank, Dr. Debra Katzman, Medical Director of The Eating Disorders Program at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) will discuss 10 signs of progress in understanding eating disorders over the last 10 years. She will also speak on how this illness can happen in any family and address the important role that families play in the identification, treatment, and support of a person with an eating disorder. Also, Mr. Jim Cerswell will share with the audience his personal experience of losing his daughter to anorexia nervosa.

    What:  The 10th Annual Sheena's Place Awareness Breakfast takes place during Eating Disorders Awareness Week to help build awareness of eating disorders and the services offered by Sheena's Place -Toronto's only community-based registered charity offering support groups and services related to eating disorders.  
    When:  
    		 Friday, February 11, 2011
    7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
    Where:  Arcadian Court, 401 Bay Street, (Simpson Tower), 8th Floor, Toronto
    Who: 
    		 Dr. Debra Katzman (Keynote Speaker) - MD, Medical Director of The Eating Disorders Program at SickKids and co-editor of "Help for Eating Disorders: A Parent's Guide to Symptoms, Causes and Treatments"
    Jim Cerswell - A Father's Story
    Why:  Sheena's Place is a community-based registered charity that offers a comprehensive program of professionally facilitated support groups that give individuals with eating disorders and their families, friends and partners, a safe place to receive hope and support. In 2010, over 1,300 clients attended groups and over 300 participated in individual information interviews. The 10th Annual Sheena's Place Awareness Breakfast, presented by Scotiabank, takes place during Eating Disorders Awareness Week which runs from February 6 - 12, 2011.
      Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses at 10%. Anyone can develop an eating disorder regardless of age, race, gender or background; however anorexia and bulimia affect primarily females in their teens and 20s. Studies report both disorders in children as young as six years as well as in adults as old as 75. Sheena's Place is focused on the education, awareness and prevention of eating disorders and offers support within 72 hours of first contact at no charge. The goal of this corporate breakfast, presented by Scotiabank, is to provide the audience with an opportunity for understanding eating disorders, to increase public awareness of these serious mental illnesses, as well as to raise funds for Sheena's Place's ongoing programs.
    For further information:

    For further information and assistance for arranging interviews, please contact:

    Deborah Clark, Scotiabank Media Communications, 416-933-0646,
    deborah_clark@scotiacapital.com

    OR

    Karen Heath, Scotiabank Media Communications, 416-866-7238,
    karen_heath@scotiacapital.com