Blog!!!

I found a blog similar to mine called Feed Me!!

I plan on posting to her blog soon. The blog is on talking about food, eating, body image, and weight.
She is an author of many books her recent one was called Brave Girl Eating. The book is about a families struggle with anorexia. she has a lot of good awareness of eating disorders. This blog could be very helpful and informative for my bill. I have started following her blog and I am going to post on her blog with in the week.

Latest Action

Latest Major Action: 2/1/2011: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

I have a feeling my bill is going to be in committee for a while. I hope they pass my bill on. I am working on emailing the bills sponsor to find out more information about the bill and how she thinks the bill is doing right now.

Bill Progess

There has been no activity on the bill since Jan. 5. It is still being reffered to the commitees. I would really like to see more progress beucase I am really passionate about his bill.

EATING DISORDER RESEARCH AND REPORT

Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Center for Health Statistics shall conduct a study on the impact eating disorders have on educational advancement and achievement. The study shall--

(1) determine the prevalence of eating disorders among students and the morbidity and mortality rates associated with eating disorders;

(2) evaluate the extent to which students with eating disorders are more likely to miss school, have delayed rates of development, or have reduced cognitive skills;

(3) report on current State and local programs to educate youth about the dangers of eating disorders, as well as evaluate the value of such programs; and

(4) make recommendations on measures that could be undertaken by the Congress, the Secretary of Education, States, and local educational agencies to strengthen eating disorder prevention and awareness programs.

• This reseasrch would be very benefical to see the current statistics in school.

Bill Status

So far my bill was introduced to the House on January the 5th. Right now it is being referred to committee. 
The bill has been referred to the following committees:

House Education and the Workforce

House Energy and Commerce

House Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health

 

Committees deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee. I really hope this bill makes it out of committee.

Section 2 findings on H.R. 36.

After more research on the bill I found that:

(1) An estimated 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 women and girls and 1,000,000 men and boys suffer from eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, as well as eating disorders that are not otherwise defined.

(2) Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.

(3) An estimated 0.5 to 3.7 percent of American women will suffer from anorexia nervosa in their lifetime.

(4) Anorexia nervosa is associated with serious health consequences including heart failure, kidney failure, osteoporosis, and death.

(5) Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders. A young woman is 12 times more likely to die than other women her age without anorexia.

(6) Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by excessive food consumption followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, fasting, or excessive exercise.

(7) Bulimia nervosa is common: An estimated 1.1 to 4.2 percent of American women will suffer from this disorder in their lifetime.

(8) Bulimia nervosa is associated with cardiac, gastrointestinal, and dental problems including irregular heartbeats, gastric rupture, peptic ulcer, and tooth decay.

(9) Binge eating disorder is characterized by frequent episodes of uncontrolled overeating.

(10) Binge eating disorder is common: An estimated 2 to 5 percent of Americans experience this disorder in a 6-month period.

(11) Binge eating is associated with obesity, heart disease, gall bladder disease, and diabetes.

(12) Eating disorders usually appear in adolescence and are associated with substantial psychological problems, including depression, substance abuse, and suicide.

(13) Forty-two percent of 1st through 3d grade girls want to be thinner, and 81 percent of 10-year-old children are afraid of being fat.

(14) Thirty-five percent of dieters progress to pathological dieting, and 20 to 25 percent of these individuals progress to partial or full syndrome eating disorders.

(15) Eating disorders can lead to death. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 10 people with anorexia nervosa will die of starvation, cardiac arrest, or other medical complications.

(16) Eating disorders can have a negative impact on the educational advancement of a student, a situation often overlooked and rarely addressed in the Nation's schools.

(17) Educational efforts to prevent eating disorders are of primary importance to the health, well being, and academic success of the Nation's students.

(18) Females are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. An estimated 5 to 15 percent of people with anorexia or bulimia and an estimated 35 percent of people with binge eating disorder are male.
 
Number 13 shocked me!! I can't believe that1st to 3rd graders are thinking about their weight. They should be worried about what the next toy they are going to get or worry about learning about to write not about their body image. 81% of 10 year children are afraid of being fat. Children should not have to worry about getting fat. They should be worried about playing outside. There reports really concern me. Are we taking away our children childhoods because if the obesity epidemic?