Eating Disorders and Prevention
The Prevention Programs
The prevention program follows a purposeful curricular sequence. That is the earlier session address individual understanding and coping strategies (i.e. Focus on Me Being Female).
The following session contents involve those topics that address the interface of the participant and her immediate world (e.g., family and friends; Focus on Me being a Female In My World).
The final sets of session involve the participant’s interface with culture and media (i.e. Focus on Me Being a Female in My Works in My Culture). The curricular design fits the model presented in Figure 1 (see Healthy Authentic Self) and allows for the participants to build a set of skills and necessary self-understanding period to addressing the external issues that can be difficult to negotiate. It may be important the session sequence as well as the content that plays a role in the program efficacy.
Unique to the prevention component of the program is the project. The project is a constructivist activity that occurs during the last four weeks of the program. Following the presentation of material for the first seven weeks, the participants are presented with the dilemma, “what can we do about this?” They then have the next four weeks to work on their project. It is their chance to make a difference. In the preliminary study (see Preliminary study 1 and 2) the groups have made wellness oriented magazine and videos that they distributed to their schools and presented to their families and classmates.
| Session | Session Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Focus on Me Being a Girl Introduction; Group Rules Breathing (functional neuroanatomy) |
| 2 | Focus on Me Being a Girl Internal awareness/homeostatic functions of the brain and body (functional neuroanatomy); Applying self-care using internal awareness skills |
| 3 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World Exotic Fruit Tasting Activity; Nutrition/Healthy Choices Activity Activity on Strong Women in History |
| 4 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World Learning to Help our Brains: The Thinking and Feeling Brain (functional neuroanatomy) |
| 5 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World Gandhi “No” Quote Setting Boundaries Essay; Assertiveness continuum activity |
| 6 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World in This Culture Media Literacy and Chinese Foot Binding Activities that explore the representation of women in the media |
| 7 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World in This Culture Discussion on Conceptualizing Beauty Introduction to Action Project |
| 8 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World in This Culture Project Work – Day 1 |
| 9 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World in This Culture Project Work – Day 2 |
| 10 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World in This Culture Project Work – Day 3 |
| 11 | Focus on Me Being a Girl in My World in This Culture Review/Presentation of Project |
