Inauguration of the Center for Eating Disorders

Headed by Dr. Gad Reisler, Shamir’s Center for Eating Disorders has been operating in cooperation with the Ministry of Education for the past 20 years. It features a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, dieticians, pediatricians, and others, annually treating some 25 youths who suffer from eating disorders. Over the past two years, Z., who will be celebrating his 13th birthday next month, used to tell his parents, “I’m not losing hope, I want to help myself.” Ahead of the inauguration ceremony, Z's father repeated these words with excitement. Z’s eating disorders had started with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We noticed that he was suddenly skipping meals and bringing his sandwiches back from school, and he just didn't feel like eating,” his father says. “This was very damaging to his growth, and we went to a clinic for growth disorders. There, we were referred to Shamir Medical Center’s clinic for eating disorders among children and adolescents.”

Dr. Reisler, Director of Shamir’s Pediatric Division, said: “This sweet boy came to us with a diagnosis of an eating disorder, in which there is a continuous difficulty to consume the sufficient nutrition needed by the body, along with a lack of interest in eating. Treating eating disorders does not amount to merely providing food. We need to determine where the problem had begun. In some cases, it starts in infancy, for various reasons. In any case, an eating disorder can restrict growth, so it must be treated.”

Z. became an outpatient for a period of a year and a half, during which he did not attend school. His treatment included sessions with a dietitian, as well as psychiatric and psychological care. His parents also received consultation aimed at helping them to help their son.

He recently returned to school, and his father reports that he is very happy. “Dr. Reisler and the team simply brought our son back to life,” says his father. “Losing the will to eat affected his physical development as well as his social connections. It harmed him all around.”

Especially due to the Covid pandemic and with the increasing exposure of youth on social networks, the phenomenon of eating disorders has exacerbated, with more patients – resulting in prolonged waiting times for appointments.

The budget increase to the Center for Eating Disorders enables increasing the number of patients it can treat, with the aim of significantly reducing waiting times, and providing better and more appropriate conditions.

In the photo: Minister of Health, Nitzan Horowitz, with Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach