Weight-Positive event on 18 March in Pergola15

The Via della Pergola location in Milan’s Isola district is hosting an event of great human value as part of the Peso Positivo project.

On 18 March, the event location Pergola15 will provide the silent and welcoming setting of its spaces for a meeting on eating disorders (DCA), during which workshops, recreational activities, experiential meetings, yoga sessions and round tables will alternate. The first objective is to create meaningful links, addressing sensitive issues with the usual humanity and, as far as possible, lightness, of the initiatives curated by Peso Positivo, a project born on Instagram @peso_positivo of the Peppino Fumagalli Family Anorexia Fund, which deals with correct information and prevention about DCA. The topics are developed in that informal, direct and inclusive way that makes them usable and convincing for young people, the people most easily affected by these dysfunctions. It is no coincidence that the floor is given to two friends who have felt the weight of these insidious and dangerous pathologies on their skin and that experts slip into the background to support and guide them. The broader objective is to strengthen and support positive bonds, those that, having travelled the invisible roads of listening, understanding, recognition, empathy, and a sense of belonging, get under the skin and help sustain the ability to orient oneself.

What are eating disorders?

Eating disorders (EADs) are dysfunctions characterised by altered eating habits and a particular preoccupation with weight and body shape, which mainly arise during adolescence. The behaviours that typically accompany them are decreased food intake, fasting, bulimic crises, induced vomiting, use of anorectic drugs, laxatives or diuretics, excessive physical activity. In order to correctly identify these dysfunctions, there are precise diagnostic criteria that clarify when there is a pathology or not.

The diagnostic manuals define the main eating disorders – anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and uncontrolled eating disorder – and other related disorders, such as nutrition disorders and subthreshold eating disorders, eating disorders that, although clinically significant, do not fall within the parameters for a full diagnosis.

…and how do they affect existence?

Suffering from an eating disorder disrupts a person’s life and limits his or her interpersonal, work and social skills, because, for the sufferer, everything revolves around food. Unfortunately, only a few of the sufferers realise the real implications and the long-term disabling extent of the disorder and seek help. We talk about ‘sneaky’ pathologies precisely because their perception is easily misinterpreted and it often happens that, especially at the beginning, weight loss can make the person concerned feel good and, by perceiving him/herself as thinner, feel more self-confident. Sometimes the social context reinforces the behaviour because it shows appreciation for the weight loss. When, on the other hand, things begin to worry, because the weight loss is excessive or in any case involves a major change in the person, many do not know how to handle the problem and, more often than not, the family members, alarmed by the excessive weight loss and aware of the urgency to intervene, do not have the tools to do so adequately.

The prevalence of these dysfunctions, the difficulty of identifying them immediately and the fact that the symptoms, hiding behind the deceptive appearances of a dry body, are easily misunderstood, makes the work carried out by a project such as Positive Weight particularly valuable.