Who is Abigail Natenshon?

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From Abbie’s Mailbox
Inquiries and Testimonials

Read the following two letters to Abigail from educators and school practitioners and her informative responses

Abigail,
Hello. I am an Exercise Physiologist in Minneapolis, MN and I am doing a community project for children in the Twin Cities. My goal is to do presentations for area schools to address Self Acceptance and Body Image. The reason I chose school age children is that adolescence is when self acceptance becomes a great struggle for many children and is a very critical time in which patterns of eating, nutrition, exercise and self acceptance form. I am working with Licensed Nutritionists, Exercise Physiologists, Educators and other health care providers with experience in eating disorders and body image.

Yours is a great web site full of information on this topic. The presentations we are doing will take place in the classroom and will last about an hour. What recommendations do you have for this type of presentation for 8 to 12 year olds? Interactive games? We need simple messages that let kids know they have choices about whom they are, how they feel about themselves, and whom they want to “BE.”

Thank you for this web site and I would greatly appreciate any insights you could offer.
Sincerely,
Reagan E. Schmitt

Dear Reagan,
You might want to assign each participant one of the articles to read that is posted on www.empoweredkidZ.com. Have each student present one main idea from the article he or she has been assigned, perhaps the one that is most pertinent or that speaks the loudest to him or to her personally. Then, consider organizing a group discussion with the wider class around whatever issue or issues seemed to engender the greatest interest. See where it takes you. Let me know how it goes.

Best Regards,
Abbie Natenshon

Dear Abbie,

Your site is WONDERFUL and I plan to use it with the small groups I’m working with on Healthy Eating. There were so many of the young girls not eating here at the Jr. High School I work at, that I decided to run two small groups, simultaneously. Because I have girls at both ends of the weight spectrum I decided to focus on Healthy Eating. I do, however, have a question about one of your items listed as an eating disorder “sign.” That is, when an individual restricts his or her eating to “I only eat when I am hungry.” Could you please explain this psychologically and perhaps physiologically?

I ask because in the past year I have been to two different conferences for school nurses and health professionals about children and nutrition and at both, experts advised that children be allowed to self monitor by eating only when they are hungry and stopping when they are full. The parents’ role is to offer nutritious food choices, but not to force the child to eat just because it’s “lunch time.” This habit would be carried into adulthood and decrease the chance of being overweight from overeating (the satiety trigger is being developed this way as well.) This seems to be opposed to the information on your site (the assessments.) I would appreciate any insight you have into this.

Thanks again for a great site.

M-------------
School Nurse
San Juan Unified School District
Carmichael, California

Dear M,
So glad you ask this very poignant question. You are right in your observation that too many people, even health professionals and eating experts teaching at conferences, have misconstrued what would otherwise be good and practical information about how to eat healthfully.

A child needs to eat three times a day, not including snacks, in order for his or her metabolism to remain in healthy working order, thereby assuring a fit and well functioning body. Freedom and flexibility, be it around food and eating or other important spheres of life, only have meaning and viability when their roots are deeply embedded in structure. The structure around eating needs to be in the form of three meals; flexibility may come in the form of a smaller or larger portion size, based on the degree of hunger or satiety at the moment.

Here’s the rule of thumb: Parents provide nutritious food and the opportunity (and expectation) for the child to eat it, hopefully in the company of loved ones and at least three times a day. The child determines the amount to be eaten. This is NOT to imply that if a child does not express an interest in eating at mealtimes, the parent should allow the golden opportunity to nourish body and soul to pass. It is through healthy limit-setting around food that a parent raises the healthy child, the healthy eater, and an “eating disorder-proof individual” now, and for the future.

When parents choose to bypass limit-setting around the daily eating structure, relying instead on the judgment and problem-solving ability of the child, (particularly if that child is dealing with the distorted body image and bodily perceptions of eating disordered malnourishment,) the odds are that the child’s judgment will be inaccurate and unsound. When it comes to kids, problems with healthy eating too often come from role modeling after parents who themselves are less than healthy eaters or do not have enough structure or limits in their own lives. How many parents do you know who skip breakfast and feel virtuous about it, or who consider a cup of coffee or a can of Diet Coke to be an adequate breakfast? Dieting and disordered eating is what is being taught to the observing child here, not healthy eating.

Lots of people are not hungry in the morning till they have been up and about for an hour or so. But the fast of the overnight sleep needs to be broken and breakfast is a must. If one makes it a point to eat breakfast consistently even when not feeling particularly hungry, that person will eventually begin to develop an appetite for it. “Front-loading” or eating more during the early part of the day is the best way to insure a more limited intake of calories during the latter part of the day.

The best and easiest way to avoid eating disorders as well as obesity in childhood and adulthood is, plain and simple, the structure of healthy eating!!!

Best Regards,
Abbie Natenshon

Excerpts from Abigail’s plea to ban fat-testing in the schools 1/ 4/ 01

This letter was directed to support a resolution by the National Parent Teacher Association recommending the elimination of fat-testing by caliper/skin fold or other devices, as currently used in many high schools, junior high schools and elementary schools.

Dear Sir;

I am writing to express my support for a ban on fat-testing in the high schools, junior highs and elementary schools. ….my experience has shown that in our fat conscious society, too many children are highly susceptible to any influences that could cause them to believe that they are overly fat even when they are not. Such a belief creates a high risk factor for the development of a clinical eating disorder. I have personally known children as young as age 9 who report to their parents that they are too fat, an image of self that was based on a fat caliper test that was originally created for use on triathalon adults and that has been used instead in the early grades.

….the incidence of disturbed body images and concerns about weight management and appearance are preoccupying children’s minds and precluding their ability to concentrate in school and to learn.

…The idea behind the testing is good and correct…children do need to be concerned about the health of their bodies and must learn to eat healthfully and exercise appropriately to achieve that end. The means to the end with this testing, however, defeats this goal and misses the mark, communicating a dangerous message to our youngsters. The solution lies in schools teaching our children what healthy eating is, not how to lose weight and develop phobias about fat in their food and on their bodies……

Who is Abigail Natenshon? And how is she qualified as a therapist, eating disorder specialist, and educator to teach other educators and school personnel?

A foremost expert in the treatment of eating disorders, Abigail H. Natenshon, MA, LCSW is a psychotherapist who has specialized in the treatment of children, young adults and their families for the past 33 years. The author of When Your Child Has An Eating Disorder: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Other Caregivers (Jossey Bass), Abigail is the founder and director of Eating Disorder Specialists of Illinois: A Clinic Without Walls. She hosts three informative web sites, www.empoweredparents.com, www.empoweredkidZ.com, which is a wholesome alternative to the pro-anorexic web sites, and www.treatingeatingdisorders.com. She has appeared on national television as an eating disorder expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The John Walsh Show, as well as on MSNBC and on National Public Radio.

Abigail is a licensed classroom teacher who has taught elementary and middle school in Illinois and Rhode Island. She is also a graduate of the Anat Baniel Method based on the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, where she has become a leader in using this Method to augment more traditional approaches to treating patients with eating disorders and body image disturbances. Particularly effective in treating long-term sufferers of eating disorders, victims of rape, sexual abuse, and self-mutilation, the technique creates a novel experience of body and self.

Abigail maintains a private practice in Highland Park, Illinois where she resides with her husband.

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