Bill Text: VA SJR322 | 2011 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Eating Disorder Awareness Week; designating as last full week in February 2011.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-03-07 - Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SJ322ER) [SJR322 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2011-SJR322-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and eating disorders not otherwise specified; and WHEREAS, eating disorders affect approximately 24 million Americans and affect people from all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, and socioeconomic status; and WHEREAS, eating disorders are becoming more prevalent at younger ages, including in children as young as seven years old; and WHEREAS, eating disorders have been stigmatized and not treated as the serious, sometimes fatal, illnesses that they are; and WHEREAS, eating disorders affect every system of the body and are associated with serious medical complications including cardiac arrhythmia, cognitive impairment, osteoporosis, infertility, heart failure, and death; and WHEREAS, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate, upwards of 20 percent, of any mental illness; and WHEREAS, eating disorders are treatable with appropriate referrals and fair coverage for treatment; less than half of all people with eating disorders receive the treatment they both need and deserve; and WHEREAS, eating disorders research is grossly underfunded, thus stalling program development and the general public's knowledge of eating disorders; and WHEREAS, education of eating disorders, to health care professionals and the general public, is lacking; eating disorders are all too often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed by health professionals; and WHEREAS, in 2011, National Eating Disorder Awareness Week will be observed during the last full week of February, the 20th through the 26th; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly designate the last full week in February, in 2011 and in each succeeding year, as Eating Disorder Awareness Week in Virginia; and, be it RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate post the designation of this week on the General Assembly's website. |