How youth advocates changed New York State law
On Thursday, January 11, 2024, NY State Senator Shelley Mayer held a virtual panel discussion on how STRIPED youth advocates successfully fought to get over-the-counter diet pills and muscle-building supplements banned for sale to children under the age of 18. Speakers included four STRIPED youth advocates: Ryan Ahmed, Pari Patel, Tasmia Afrin, and Authoy Das. Each shared their story of how they were motivated to take action for social change, which helped to get New York State Senate Bill S5823C/Assembly Bill A5610D passed into law. Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, PsyD, also spoke to the importance of passing this law to protect child health, while Maryland Delegate Joe Vogel pledged his support for similar legislation in Maryland. Overall, it was an inspiring event that highlighted how youth voices can help enact meaningful reform. Watch the entire panel on YouTube.
On October 11, 2023, STRIPED’s Dr. Bryn Austin participated in a panel hosted by The Female Quotient, and moderated by Alyson Niemann of Impact Philanthropy. The event was held in honor of the International Day of the Girl, and the panel discussed mental health issues in young people.
On June 7, 2023, STRIPED Visiting Scholar Dr. Lyza Norton provided a virtual seminar to the Boston Children’s Hospital community on preventive measures against disordered eating, titled Promoting Positive Food Parenting Practices for Disordered Eating Prevention. Dr. Norton shared information with the aim to empower parents and caregivers with the knowledge and tools to foster healthy relationships with food and prevent the development of eating disorders in children and adolescents.
On February 1, 2023, STRIPED Director Bryn Austin, ScD, presented at the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Grand Rounds. Her talk, titled “‘Monetizing Misery’: Social Media, Teen Mental Health & the Case for Policy Action” focuses on the latest research and policy advocacy efforts related to the intersection of social media and adolescent mental health.
STRIPED Visiting Scholar Dr. Emilio Compte, Ph.D. gave two talks titled “The Use of Muscle-Building Supplements in Latin America, and its Relationship with Male Health, and Eating Disorders”, co-sponsored by STRIPED and the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital on July 21 and “Missing Men and Other Gender Dilemmas in Eating Disorders Assessment for Research and Clinical Care”, co-sponsored by STRIPED and the Department of Neuro-Psychiatric Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on July 20, 2022.
On October 24 and 25, 2022, STRIPED hosted a two-day virtual exploratory seminar, Re-envisioning the Future of BMI Surveillance: Critical Reflection on a Contested Tactic of the “War on Obesity.” The central focus of this exploratory workshop was to bring together great thinkers from across disciplines, sectors, and perspectives to work together to sketch out generative and ethical ways in which the need for BMI surveillance may be balanced with a need to avoid stigmatizing children and people of all ages in a society where shame about weight is ever present and can undermine the delivery of care to patients of all sizes. Over 20 experts from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines attended this two-day interactive workshop, which was made possible by a grant from the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The Program Leaders consisted of S. Bryn Austin, Tracy Richmond, and Allegra Gordon.
On May 1, 2022, STRIPED Director, Dr. Bryn Austin, along with a panel of mental health clinicians and teachers, were featured speakers at the Becca Schmill Foundation’s “Social Media and Our Youth: A Virtual Mental Health Forum,” co-hosted by State Representative Denise Garlick. For those who missed it, you can view the recording here.
On April 24, 2022, STRIPED Director, Dr. Bryn Austin gave a talk to the International Socioeconomics Laboratory on the social and economic costs of eating disorders in the United States. In case you missed it, you can view a recording of the talk here.
On April 5, 2022, STRIPED Director, Dr. Bryn Austin spoke to the Harvard Chan School of Public Health Alumni Association on social media and teen mental health and eating disorders. For those unable to join the webinar live, you can view the recording here.
On October 2021, Katrina Velasquez, Esq., M.A., Managing Principal of Center Road Solutions and Chief Policy Officer of the Eating Disorders Coalition gave a talk at the American Public Health Association’s Conference titled, “Model Legislation as a Cornerstone of Public Health Advocacy – Examples from the STRIPED Advocacy Playbook.” For those who were unable to join the conference live, you can view the recording here.
On November 9, 2021, STRIPED Youth Corps member Kelsey Wu, and STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin were featured speakers at the Eating Disorders Coalition’s Congressional Briefing titled, “Behind the Images: Social Media’s Impact on Body Image and Eating Disorders.” For those who were unable to join the Eating Disorders Coalition’s Congressional Briefing live, you can view the recording of the program here.
On November 5, 2021, STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin gave the plenary at TOS titled, “Taking Action Against Weight Stigma.” Check out the recording of this event here.
On October 14, 2021, International Socioeconomics Laboratory (ISL) Founder Ryan Ahmed presented his poster titled, “Fighting Back Against a Predatory Industry: Over-the-Counter Diet Pills” at the Society for Public Health Education’s (SOPHE) 23rd Annual Virtual Advocacy Summit Poster Presentation. Check out his poster here.
On October 13, 2021, STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin and STRIPED Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Amanda Raffoul gave a talk titled, “Integrating Research-to-Policy Translation Skills into Public Health Professional Workforce Training: An Innovative Online Resource for Planning Policy Advocacy Campaigns” at the Society for Public Health Education’s (SOPHE) 23rd Annual Virtual Advocacy Summit. Check out the recording of this event here.
On October 8, 2021, STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin discussed the recent revelation that Facebook has long known of Instagram’s harm to teens’ mental health in the latest Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health feature. Read the full interview here.
On September 2, 2021, STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin and STRIPED Youth Corps Member Joanne Chung spoke with 51 percent radio host, Jesse King, about restricting the sale of weight-loss and muscle-building supplements to minors, the cost of eating disorders, eating disorders prevention, and recovery on the 51 percent podcast. Tune in to listen here.
On September 1, 2021, STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin spoke with NYT-Bestselling Author and Bad With Money Podcast Host, Gaby Dunn, and “In the Heights” actress, Stephanie Beatriz about the economic impact of eating disorders on the Bad With Money podcast. Listen here.
On August 12, 2021, STRIPED Director and Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Dr. Bryn Austin, ScD, and the Executive Director of BE REAL USA, Denise Hamburger, JD, discussed how schools can create supportive learning environments that prevent weight stigma, body dissatisfaction, and eating disorders. For those who didn’t get the chance to attend our webinar delivered to CDC Health School Grantees, check out the recording of the event here.
On Thursday, July 29, 2021, STRIPED Director and Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Dr. Bryn Austin, ScD, gave a talk titled, “Social and Economic Costs of Eating Disorders in the United States” at the International Socioeconomics Laboratory/Harvard University Youth Summit. Check out the recording of this event here.
On Wednesday, April 21, 2021, STRIPED Visiting Scholar Dr. Sook Ning Chua gave a talk titled “Disordered Eating and Skin Shade Dissatisfaction in Young Adults in Singapore and Malaysia” in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. Check out the recording of this event here.
On Wednesday, April 7, 2021 STRIPED Visiting Scholar Dr. Sook Ning Chua gave a talk titled “Disordered Eating, Body Image & Community Mental Health in Malaysia” at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Check out the recording of this event here.
On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 11am ET, STRIPED Director Dr. Bryn Austin, STRIPED Visiting Scholar Dr. Lesley Williams, Founder of Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness Johanna Kandel, and Executive Director of Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA) Monika Ostroff, spoke at a symposium titled “Stress, Disordered Eating and Mental Health” at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Check out the recording of this event here.
On December 9, 2020, primary and secondary school professionals joined Founder and Executive Director of BE REAL, Denise Hamburger, and STRIPED Director S. Bryn Austin, for a free evidence-informed training on how to create a Body Confident School. For those of you who didn’t get the chance to attend, check out the recording here.
This November 2020, we welcomed Trine Tetlie Eik-Nes, MSc, PhD of Norway as a STRIPED Virtual Visiting Scholar. Dr. Trine Tetlie Eik-Nes gave two important virtual talks at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital.
- “Disentangling the role of eating disorder, shame and stigma in treatment of unhealthy weight gain“ on Thursday, November 12, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This webinar was co-sponsored by STRIPED and the Program in Public Health Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
- “The role of eating disorder, body image and stigma in prevention of unhealthy weight gain” on Monday, November 16, in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital
STRIPED hosted another virtual STRIPED Showcase on Friday, October 23, 2020. The showcase ran roughly from 10a-2:30p EST and featured brief 10-minute, works-in-progress presentations from members of the STRIPED community, followed by a 10-minute Q&A and discussion after each presentation. We had a great turnout of STRIPED scholars, collaborators, and supporters from around the world joining us at some point during our Showcase marathon. Thank you especially to all the presenters for putting together such illuminating and innovative talks and sharing your works in progress with us all!
In October 2020, we welcomed Lesley Williams, MD as a STRIPED Virtual Visiting Scholar. Dr. Williams gave two important talks at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital.
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- “Weight Stigma as a Public Health Issue” on Monday, October 19, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This webinar was co-sponsored by STRIPED and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
- “Practical Application of Weight Inclusive Clinical Care” on Thursday, October 22, in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital
- “Weight Stigma as a Public Health Issue” on Monday, October 19, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This webinar was co-sponsored by STRIPED and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
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On Wednesday, July 15, STRIPED Director Bryn Austin and family advocate, Cherie Monarch, discussed the recent groundbreaking report on the social and economic cost of eating disorders on a Facebook Live Event with The Alliance for Eating Disorder Awareness. Watch the full Facebook Live event here.
On Wednesday, June 24, 2020, STRIPED, along with the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), hosted a press conference to release the results of the most comprehensive study of the social and economic costs of eating disorders in the United States to date. Johanna Kandel, founder and executive director of the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness moderated the press conference. STRIPED Director S. Bryn Austin, Natasha Doherty and Jared Streatfeild of Deloitte Access Economics spoke on behalf of the report. Click the link here to read the report.
Watch the full recording of the press conference here.
Expert Advisory Panel for This Report: We offer a debt of gratitude to the members of the Expert Advisory Panel for their extensive guidance on the preparation of this report: S. Bryn Austin, Rebecca Hutcheson, Johanna S. Kandel, Jillian Lampert, Elissa Myers, Tracy K. Richmond, Mihail Samnaliev, Katrina Velasquez, Zachary J. Ward, Ruth S. Weissman, and Davene R. Wright.
Funding: This report was supported by a Boston Children’s Hospital Pediatric Associates Research Program grant and by the Ellen Feldberg Gordon Fund for Eating Disorders Prevention Research.
On Friday, May 1, 2020, STRIPED held a virtual showcase to bring together members of the STRIPED community to present and workshop projects and research. We had a great turnout–with upwards of 75 people— with STRIPED scholars, collaborators, and supporters from around the world joining us at some point during our Showcase marathon. Thank you especially to all the presenters for putting together such illuminating and innovative talks and sharing your works in progress with us all!
On Tuesday, January 28, 2020, the Committee on Health- New York City Council held a hearing on body image and inclusivity. The hearing discussed the bill, Intro 1485, which if passed, would ban the sale of “detox” teas and weight loss candies to minors in New York City. We want to thank NYC Council Member Mark Levine for taking on “detox” teas and toxic diet pills in New York City.
Watch the live streamed NYC Council hearing on why we must ban the sale of these dangerous products to NYC children below.
Body Image and Inclusivity Hearing part one
Body Image and Inclusivity Hearing part two
On Wednesday, December 11, Hannah Cory, STRIPED Trainee and doctoral student of Nutrition in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, presented on “The Weight of Stigma: Weight Talk, Social Perceptions and Disordered Eating in Adolescents.”
On Tuesday, November 12, 2019, Dr. Pieter Cohen, Cambridge Health Alliance physician and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, gave a lunchtime seminar talk at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Pieter Cohen’s talk titled, “Sports and Weight-Loss Supplements: More Than Mojo,” discussed his cutting edge research on the dangers of dietary supplements sold for weight loss.
On Tuesday, October 22, 2019, STRIPED visiting scholar Dr. Karin Dunker presented on eating disorder treatment and prevention in Brazil. To learn more about the work of Karin Dunker, visit our Fellows and Visiting Scholars Page.
On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, STRIPED held a showcase to bring together researchers, trainees, and visiting scholars in the STRIPED community to share presentations showcasing the range of projects in the STRIPED network.
On Friday, August 9, STRIPED visiting scholar Professor Iyiola Solanke presented the talk “A public health approach to tackle discrimination” at Boston Children’s Hospital.
STRIPED Director Bryn Austin spoke about STRIPED policy advocacy initiatives at a Cambridge Eating Disorder Center event on June 15, 2019.
On Tuesday, June 4, STRIPED Director Bryn Austin sat down for a Facebook live interview with actress Jameela Jamil and body image researcher Nadia Craddock to discuss weight-loss products and celebrity responsibility. You can watch it here.
Dietary supplements are a multi-billion-dollar industry, but these products are only weakly regulated and for many there’s no evidence of their efficacy. Supplements sold with promises of weight loss and cleansing or “detox” are often deceptive snake oil sold to unsuspecting consumers. And they can come with serious health consequences; more than 20,000 emergency room trips in the U.S. each year are blamed on supplements in general with fully a quarter due to weight-loss supplements. Manufacturers of these supplements exploit the insecurities of vulnerable consumers, especially teenage girls, who bear the brunt of the most intense body shaming pressures in our weight-obsessed culture. The pressure is only ratcheted up when celebrities endorse these products, touting their nearly magical weight-loss properties. During this Facebook Live Q&A, they explored the dangers of these dietary supplements, the physical and mental health effects stemming from body image issues, and the role celebrities can play in driving positive culture change.
On Tuesday, April 2, 2019, STRIPED visiting scholar Zali Yager gave a talk at the Harvard Chan School titled, “Innovations in improving body confidence and mental health in mothers.”
On Wednesday, March 20, 2019, STRIPED held a showcase to bring together members of the STRIPED community to present and workshop projects and research on weight stigma and eating disorders prevention.
On Friday, Dec. 7, 2018, STRIPED visiting scholar Suman Ambwani presented the talk, “When pseudoscience becomes trendy: An exploration of clean eating, false health claims, and eating disorder risk” at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, STRIPED and the Eating Disorders Coalition, supported by the Office on Women’s Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, hosted the webinar and e-course “Screening, Symptom Recognition & Referral to Treatment for Eating Disorders in Pediatric Primary Care Settings.”
On Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, STRIPED and the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching hosted a half-day workshop titled “Challenges and Opportunities for Designing and Implementing Case-based Learning in the Online Space.”
On Wednesday, Oct 24, 2018, STRIPED Visiting Scholar Nadia Craddock presented a talk titled, “Colourism and Skin Lightening: An Overlooked Global Health Concern” at Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
On Monday, April 30, 2018, STRIPED and Harvard Catalyst hosted an Eating Disorders Prevention Symposium titled, “Reimagining the Frontier of Public Health Approaches to Eating Disorders Prevention: Transdisciplinary, Translational, Transformative.” The event attracted almost 250 participants from around the globe, including scholars and advocates from academia, healthcare, government, community organizations, and business.
Follow this link to view and download video recordings of the symposium. *NOTE: To view the full video recordings, click “DOWNLOAD” on the upper right hand corner of the page.
On February 13, 2018, STRIPED and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion screened the documentary, “Fattitude,” a film about body positivity and weight bias, at Harvard Chan School of Public Health in FXB G13 at 5:30pm. Following the screening, there was a panel to discuss the topic with the creators of the film!
On Nov. 6, 2017, STRIPED screened the documentary Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image, a film about body image and challenging societal standards of beauty in the media. After the documentary, there was a webcast Q&A from Fordham University with a panel of body image experts during which you can interact live through twitter!
On Nov. 8, 2017, Dr. Laura Hart, STRIPED visiting scholar, presented a lunchtime talk titled Body Image in Early Childhood: Helping Preschoolers Develop Body Confidence as a Public Health Intervention at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
STRIPED trainee Monica Kriete presented the STRIPED sponsored talk “Weight Bias: A Public Health Problem” at Harvard School of Public Health on Oct. 25, 2017
On Oct. 19, 2017, the Academy for Eating Disorders hosted a live tweet chat titled “Policy Advocacy for Prevention: Let’s Make It Happen” about how policy translation and advocacy can help us advance eating disorders prevention. STRIPED Director S. Bryn Austin facilitated the conversation on twitter from the @HarvardSTRIPED account.
If you missed “Supplements and Health: Sorting the Facts,” be sure to check out the archived event recording here! This event was hosted by the Forum of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and addresses the risks associated with dietary supplements.
Featured panelists were:
- STRIPED Director S. Bryn Austin
- Charles Bell, Programs Director for Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization arm of Consumer Reports
- Pieter Cohen, General Internist, Cambridge Health Alliance; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- JoAnn Manson, Chief, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Study Director, VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL)
Moderated by Carol Hills, Senior Producer and Reporter, PRI’s The World.
Also, check out the archived Facebook Live Pre-Event Q&A with Dr. Austin and Carol Hills of PRI’s The World!
If you missed “Capitol Hill Chaos: The Future of Eating Disorders, Treatment Access and Mental Health Parity,” be sure to check out the archived recording here and read this article from the Harvard Chan School on the event!
This event was co-sponsored by the Eating Disorders Coalition, Harvard Chan Mental Health Student Alliance, and the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard Chan School.
If you missed “Eating Disorders, Mental Health and Body Image: The Public Health Connections,” check out the archived recording here and take a look at this article in the Harvard Gazette covering the forum to learn about the multifaceted nature of eating disorders and how we can prevent them! This event was hosted by the Forum of the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
Featured panelists were:
- STRIPED Director S. Bryn Austin
- Alison Field, Chair, Department of Epidemiology, Brown University
- Claire Mysko, Chief Executive Office, National Eating Disorders Association
- Thomas Weigel, Psychiatrist and Associate Medical Director, Klarman Eating Disorders Center, McLean Hospital
Moderated by Carol Hills, Senior Producer and Reporter, PRI’s The World.
