The Power of Your Voice: S. Bryn Austin, ScD

Naomi chats with Dr. Bryn Austin of Harvard Chan School of Public Health about the importance of advocacy for eating disorders at the state and federal level. Dr. Austin is the Founding Director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Preventing of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) where she and her colleagues help train the next generation in eating disorder prevention. In this episode, Dr. Austin shares how the CDC recently removed questions pertaining to disordered eating habits on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, a survey the agency issues every other year and whose data is essential for researchers working in public health. The sudden elimination of the questions was a call-to-action for the eating disorder community.
Note: Take a listen after the interview for an exciting update on this issue!

Dr. Austin is also an active member of the Eating Disorders Coalition, an advocacy group that works to advance the recognition of eating disorders as a public health priority by building relationships on Capitol Hill.

Links/Resources mentioned in the episode:
1) STAT Article, "A decade without data: Eating disorder researchers say a gap in CDC survey has left them flying blind" [link]
2) Harvard STRIPED [link]
3) STRIPED Advocacy Playbook [link]
4) The Eating Disorders Coalition (EDC) [website]
5) Register for EDC's Virtual National Advocacy Day - May 17, 2022! Registration here and more information here

Questions, comments, or suggestions? E-mail the host: naomi.charalambakis90@gmail.com