Malta seems to have a higher rate of binge-eating disorders as opposed to the rest of Europe and the United States, possibly because of the high levels of obesity, clinical psychologist Dorothy Scicluna said yesterday during the launch of an eating disorder awareness campaign.

Dr Scicluna was speaking at the launch of Taste Freedom – an awareness campaign on eating disorders organised by 19-year-old Louisa Bartolo in collaboration with the Health Promotion Department.

Dr Scicluna pointed out that while the frequency of eating disorders in Malta seems to be similar to those found in the rest of Europe and the United States, Malta seems to have a higher rate of binge-eating disorders – probably linked to its high obesity levels.

In her introduction, Ms Bartolo explained that she had suffered from anorexia and, as a result, wanted to set up a campaign to help raise awareness about it.

Ms Bartolo called for a more comprehensive, accessible and affordable support structure for victims and their families, including a helpline and a clinic run by a multidisciplinary team.

She appealed to all those suffering from eating disorders not to lose heart and to come forward and ask for help.

Medical professionals, nutritionists, representatives from sports associations, counsellors, heads of all the sixth forms, media personalities, student body representatives, directors of modelling agencies and politicians including Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina, Labour MPs Charles Mangion, Robert Abela and Evarist Bartolo were present.

Health Promotion Officer Elaine Dutton said that the Health Promotion Department receives an average of six to eight calls a month from people who have an eating disorder, or from their relatives or friends.

She pointed out that although six phone calls might not be a number to fuss over, “each one represents a desperate person looking for help.”

Ms Dutton said that these people called hoping that “we can make this misery end, that we can give them back their life, that we can give back the whole family the peace they long for.”

She added there was a feeling of helplessness because there was not much that could be done apart from referring the person to his or her GP who in turn could write them a referral to the psychiatric outpatients.

She pointed out that, unfortunately, these people would not go to their GP and if they did, the GP might not diagnose correctly.

“An eating disorder is not a disease limited to an unlucky few but is another piece of a very complex picture in adolescence – part of these cases could very well be a continuation of the overweight/obesity problem in early adolescence,” she said.

Ms Dutton called for a multi-disciplinary team of professionals that could help people deal with their condition while providing support for their families.

The guest speaker, a senior lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Leicester Medical School and honorary consultant psychiatrist with Leicestershire Partnership National Health Service Trust, Bob Palmer, said that eating disorders had an image problem.

“They are often portrayed as either an exotic rarity afflicting and sometimes killing young women at the threshold of lives that had been full of promise or as the expression of the foolishness of adolescent girls who take to excess the essentially trivial concerns with appearance and slimness that are widespread in our societies,” he said.

However, he pointed out that neither of these two pictures was accurate as eating disorders were neither rare nor trivial but were serious disorders which had to be taken seriously.

Prof. Palmer said there were effective treatments – especially for bulimia nervosa – but these needed to improve.

“Many people can and should be treated as outpatients but a significant minority may require hospital admission,” he said.

Treatment was mainly psychological and should tackle the fear of change that the victims of eating disorders had, he added.

However, Prof. Palmer reassured the audience that no one was an entirely hopeless case and that most people recovered in the end.

For more information visit www.tastefreedom.org.