The first ever World Eating Disorder Action Day was held June 2nd, 2016 as a part of a global activist movement to raise awareness of eating disorders. This campaign was developed by a diverse group of activists representing affected individuals, parents/caregivers and professionals in the eating disorders field. Leading the efforts was a steering committee of 15 individuals from across the world, including NEDA’s own Yasemin Merwede!
The vision of the Action Day was summarized as “uniting eating disorder activists, professionals, parents and those personally affected to promote worldwide knowledge of eating disorders and the need for comprehensive treatment”. The steering committee utilized the “Nine Truths About Eating Disorders” and drafted “Nine Goals” with input from activists around the world. Both the “Nine Truths” and “Nine Goals” were transferred to shareable graphics so people could post on a range of social media platforms. To aid in the awareness effort, the cast and crew of the Marti Noxon’s forthcoming film “To the Bone”, including Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, and Retta, created a PSA, reading the “Nine Truths.” The day received support from other well-known personalities such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ariana Huffington, Whitney Way Thore and many more!
World Eating Disorders Action Day, the Numbers:
- Thousands of activists, over 200 organizations in over 40 countries
- 2,146 signed the World Eating Disorders Action Day pledge
- Over 53,000 views of the PSA on NEDA’s Facebook page
- 30 hours of tweet-chats with over 18,000 tweets and the trending hashtag #WeDoAct
- Nearly 20,000 page views of the World Eating Disorders Day website, with visitors from over 100 countries
The day was a great success, and established a solid foundation to continue advocacy and awareness efforts around the globe, and to build upon for World Eating Disorders Action Day in 2017!
