Julia Cassidy’s On-Air Interview with ABC7 Los Angeles’ Tony Cabrera

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TONY CABRERA
Well, a number of children’s mental health issues skyrocketed during the pandemic. Fortunately, many have come down, but eating disorders in particular have remained at a record high. Some patients are being diagnosed at younger ages and in more serious condition. Joining us live in studio is Julia Cassidy. She’s the Vice President of Clinical Nutrition Services and a registered dietitian with Alsana. So thank you so much for being here.

JULIA CASSIDY
Absolutely. Thank you for having me.

CABRERA
And what a huge important topic, right? Now let’s start with it. We talked about during the pandemic, how the numbers for everything pretty much was high, but eating disorders, how severe are they still? And put that into perspective for us.

CASSIDY
Well, eating disorders are still on the rise, and it’s been a couple of different things. With the pandemic, there’s been isolation and then increased social media use and the good thing is there’s been an increase in mental health awareness, which has actually brought to light how severe the eating disorders are in our country.

CABRERA
Oh, wow. So because of that, there’s more light that’s shined on it? Is that what you’re saying?

CASSIDY
Yes, there’s more focus. There’s more area and attention on it.

CABRERA
Okay. And now why haven’t we seen it go back? With everything else going down and leveling out, what is it that the pandemic is over with – why does it still continue? What do you think those reasons are?

CASSIDY
Honestly, first and foremost, I think it’s diet culture. And then we are so inundated on social media, so I think social media would be the number two factor, especially with our adolescents. Their whole world is on the phone. Their whole world is in the social media, I want to say box, basically. And they are constantly seeing images of how to be better. They’re constantly seeing images that are telling them they’re not good enough. Not to mention all of these tips and tricks on how to have an eating disorder. And so it is going to really increase our numbers. And the thing with eating disorders, they are a mental health condition. And so the earlier we can get intervention, the earlier we can intervene and help these adolescents and adults actually affects everybody, the better they’ll off be if we can get them into treatment.

CABRERA
Well, you said on social media, there are tips and tricks for how to have an eating disorder?

CASSIDY
Unfortunately, yes.

CABRERA
What?

CASSIDY
Yes, there are.

CABRERA
Oh, my gosh.

CASSIDY
And part of that is just diet culture. Anything that has to do with diet culture, anytime we start restricting our food intake, anytime we are feeling guilt and shame around food, that is disordered eating. As humans should not be feeling guilty or shameful for eating a particular food no matter what that food is. All foods have nutrients to offer our body. And so diet culture has really taken that intuition away from us.

CABRERA
And back when I was in high school, junior high, high school, there was no social media. We weren’t constantly exposed to it multiple hours throughout the day. I mean, maybe a magazine or an ad on TV or a show, it has exponentially grown, right?

CASSIDY
Yes. So when we were in school, eating disorders are a mental health condition. That’s anxiety, depression. Everybody, most people who have an eating disorder have a predisposition already. And so there are still different societal triggers. So it could have been comments, it could have been pressure from parents to do well in school. Coaches saying the right or wrong thing that could have triggered an eating disorder. Now with the social media, those triggers, those activators are in our faces all the time.

CABRERA
Now you help with treatment for this. Thank God there are people like you who are helping young people through this. Why is it, though, difficult? It’s still difficult to get a lot of mental health help, right?

CABRERA
Yes. Depends on our access to care, especially in the minority populations. Eating disorders are not discriminatory, right? Eating disorders affect everybody in our minority communities. They don’t have the resources. They may not have the insurance that other people have, and so it is much harder. Also, in certain cultures, some of our, I want to say the humans, some people are shamed for having an eating disorder, or it’s part of their culture to eat larger quantities of food, whatever the case may be, right? And so our minority cultures, they don’t have the access to care that everyone else has. And so that is, I want to say, in conjunction with the rise of the eating disorders.

CABRERA
Okay, to wrap this up here, what are some warning signs for parents to look out for? And then how can people move forward and get some help?

CASSIDY
Yeah, warning signs is eating in isolation, restricting, so they’re not eating some of their favorite foods they used to like, increased irritability, increased depression, increased anxiety, and really just fear and feeling shameful around foods in general. Primary warning signs.

CABRERA
Wow. Thank you so much for all of your insight and everything. Thank you for the work that you do to help young people get out of this.

CASSIDY
Absolutely.

CABRERA
All right. There’s hope out there.

CASSIDY
Yes, there is.

CABRERA
Julia, thank you so much from Alsana.

CASSIDY
Yes, from Alsana.

CABRERA
Okay, there you go. Well, have a great day.