As a school psychologist working with 9th graders in a local public school, you are asked to develop a broad-based mental health initiative to prevent eating disorders. What would you recommend as the key aspects of this program and how might this differ from working with high-risk individuals?

What will be an ideal response?

• Prevention should be universal in schools and start in early elementary and continue through high school
• Should include components of promoting a healthy lifestyle including diet and exercise
• Educate about media images and reality of those images
• Use positive peer pressure to combat teasing/bullying for physical appearance
• Address perfectionism and self-esteem issues
• Peer-led prevention programs can be effective
• High-risk students could be referred to community agencies for evaluation if symptoms begin to develop (early warning)