Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Health Eating Disorders topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Stacy Shilter Pisano urges South Whidbey schools to screen for eating‑disorder signs, outlines supports for families
Summary
At a South Whidbey School District parent workshop, Stacy Shilter Pisano of The Emily Program told families eating disorders affect adolescents across genders and identities, urged attention to behavioral signs in schools, described screening and treatment options (including virtual IOP/PHP), and offered follow‑up resources for staff and caregivers.
Stacy Shilter Pisano, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified eating‑disorder specialist with The Emily Program, told a virtual South Whidbey School District parent workshop that eating disorders are common, often hidden and serious, and that schools and caregivers should be prepared to spot signs and help families access care.
"Recovery is possible," Pisano said, and she urged caregivers and school staff to look beyond body size for symptoms and to pay attention to behavioral patterns and functional impacts in the school setting. She told attendees that, in the United States, "more than 24 million people" live with an eating disorder and that "only one in 10 people with an eating disorder will receive treatment." She also cited a frequently used estimate that about every 62 minutes someone dies from an eating disorder or related complications.
Why it matters: Pisano framed eating disorders as brain‑based illnesses influenced by biological, environmental and psychological factors. She said early adolescent development, social pressures (including social media and weight‑loss advertising), co‑occurring conditions such as anxiety, depression, ADHD and autism, and trauma can all raise vulnerability. Because behaviors often serve as coping strategies, she said, school staff should focus on functional changes—academic decline, avoidance of socialized eating, frequent bathroom trips after meals, rigidity around routines or marked preoccupation with food or exercise—rather than appearance alone.
What schools can do: Pisano recommended that school counselors and nurses observe patterns and, where permitted, consider brief screening tools such as the EAT‑26 to inform follow up. She recommended nonjudgmental, curiosity‑based conversations with students and caregivers, documenting patterns that affect participation or growth, and offering support while respecting privacy and classroom needs.
Treatment and local access: Pisano described levels of care from outpatient to residential and recommended multidisciplinary teams that include dietitians, medical providers, psychiatrists and family therapists. She said The Emily Program offers intensive outpatient (IOP, about three hours per day) and partial hospitalization programs (PHP, about six hours per day) in person and virtually, and that the program accepts most commercial and state insurances but not Tricare. She walked through a typical intake: a phone intake of about 30–45 minutes, triage to the appropriate level of care, and options for outpatient or family‑based treatment for younger children.
Parents’ concerns and presenter responses: Attendees raised specific questions about early prevention among elementary students, the overlap between ADHD/autism symptoms and eating‑disorder behaviors, and whether curriculum or school programs are appropriate venues for prevention. Pisano said up to "22%" of children and adolescents may show patterns of disordered eating that could lead to clinical disorders, called the statistic "alarming," and described Family‑Based Treatment (FBT) as the evidence‑based outpatient approach for younger children in which caregivers take a central role in restoring adequate intake. On differentiating conditions, she recommended focusing on whether the child expresses weight‑ or body‑related concerns (a clear red flag) and on achieving dietary adequacy even when behaviors stem from sensory issues or attention differences.
Follow‑up and resources: Pisano said the presenter team would share the slide deck and resource links and that The Emily Program provides school‑facing handouts and periodic virtual consultation sessions for staff. Hosts invited families to contact Pisano with questions and noted the session would be posted on the district website.
Context and limits: The presentation was educational and did not include formal district policy proposals or votes. Several prevalence and mortality figures were cited by the presenter without direct citations in the meeting; the article notes those numbers as presenter‑reported estimates. The presenter recommended screening and referral approaches for schools but did not describe any binding district actions taken at the meeting.
The meeting closed after roughly an hour and a half of presentation and Q&A; Pisano encouraged staff and caregivers to reach out for consultations and resources.
