Give Food A Chance - New Eating Disorder Treatment
Author: Dr. Julie O'Toole
Published: 2010/09/13 - Updated: 2026/02/20
Publication Type: Informative
Category Topic: Publications - Related Publications
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Insights, Updates
Synopsis: This product announcement covers Give Food A Chance, a book by Dr. Julie O'Toole that presents a new treatment paradigm for eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and food phobias. Dr. O'Toole, a graduate of Reed College with an M.D. in public health from the Technical University in Aachen, Germany, draws on her clinical work at the Kartini Clinic in Portland, Oregon, where she specializes in treating children whose brains do not function properly regarding food and survival. The book challenges widely held theories that eating disorders stem from poor parenting or issues of control, instead presenting anorexia as a chronic, highly heritable brain disorder. Written primarily as a guide for parents but also useful for doctors, nurse practitioners, nutritionists, and therapists, the book covers meal plans, medical stabilization, family involvement, medication, and psychological recovery. The information is particularly relevant to families affected by eating disorders and to people with disabilities, as anorexia nervosa is now recognized as a leading cause of disability in young women - Disabled World (DW).
- Definition: Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions characterized by persistent disturbances in eating behavior and the distressing thoughts and emotions that accompany them. The most widely recognized forms include anorexia nervosa, in which individuals severely restrict food intake and experience dangerous weight loss; bulimia nervosa, marked by cycles of binge eating followed by purging; and food phobias, which can include an intense fear of swallowing or consuming certain foods. These conditions affect people of all ages and genders, though they disproportionately impact young women and are now recognized as a leading cause of disability in that population. Current medical understanding increasingly frames eating disorders - particularly anorexia - as brain-based conditions with a strong genetic component, moving away from earlier theories that attributed them primarily to family dynamics, cultural pressure, or personal choice, and shifting treatment approaches toward medical stabilization, family involvement, and long-term neurological and psychological recovery
Introduction
New Treatment Options for Eating Disorders Described in New Book, Give Food A Chance
Eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa, are now a leading cause of disability in young women. Starving themselves, binging and purging, or exercising compulsively can lead to illness, debilitating weight loss - even death. Now a brand new book, Give Food A Chance, offers a new approach to treating anorexia and bulimia.
Main Content
Manifesting as an urge that drives young women (and men) to starve themselves, to binge and purge, or exercise compulsively, these behaviors can lead to illness, debilitating weight loss - even death - if left untreated.
"I initially wrote Give Food A Chance as a detailed guide for clinicians who care for children with eating disorders," says author Dr. Julie O'Toole. "It seemed to me at the time that a technical book written for doctors and nurse practitioners would best serve to spread the message of a new treatment paradigm. On reading it my son Morgan suggested that my audience was all wrong. Write for those who care the most, he told me, write for parents. Parents, he suggested, will care most passionately about the details, will be most motivated to spread the word. Speak to them and they will speak to the doctors. Speak to them and the children will best be served."
Eating disorders continue to be a serious health risk for children, teens, and young adults. Dr. O'Toole's work at the Kartini Clinic in Portland, Oregon, has led her to discover that a new approach to anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and food phobias, (as well as other eating disorders) can help patients achieve lasting remission as well as personal healing and growth. (PerfSciPress.com/give-food-a-chance) Dr. O'Toole rejects theories that eating disorders are caused by poor parenting, issues of control, rejection of adulthood, or society's oppression of women. Instead, the author contends that anorexia in particular is a chronic, highly heritable brain disorder.
Give Food A Chance was written as a guide for parents, regardless of whether or not they are involved in a clinical program. It was also written for professionals such as doctors, nurse practitioners, nutritionists, and therapists and contains a wealth of information that concerned parents can pass along to their child's providers. The book discusses the whys and wherefores of meal plans, medical stabilization, family involvement, medication, psychological recovery and more. Some case histories are also presented and discussed, as examples to those dealing with eating disorders.
Dr. O'Toole's landmark book, Give Food A Chance, has now been published and is available from the publisher, PSIPress as a paperback or down-loadable e-book. The book can also be purchased at Amazon as an e-book for the Kindle.
"This is an excellent book written by a brilliant and caring doctor who specializes in treating anorexia in children," writes one reader whose history - and her daughter's - includes suffering from anorexia. "I have bought a ton of books on anorexia and eating disorders, in general. This is a brilliant read and a must-have book for parents of a child or young adult who suffer from any sub-type of anorexia!"
About Give Food A Chance
Give Food A Chance was written as a guide for parents. It was also written for professionals who treat eating disorders, and contains an abundance of information that concerned parents can pass along to their child's health care providers. Topics include the whys and wherefores of meal plans, medical stabilization, family involvement, medication, psychological recovery and more. For parents whose children have been diagnosed with food phobia (fear of swallowing) Give Food A Chance may be the only book that describes the symptoms and consequences of food phobia, as well as offering a successful treatment.
Dr. Julie O'Toole
Dr. O'Toole is a graduate of Reed College in Portland, OR. She also attended the University of Washington and The Technical University in Aachen, Germany where she received her M.D. in public health. Dr. O'Toole's work involves the study of child behavior, especially in those children whose brains do not work properly regarding food and survival. Her main emphasis is on anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and food phobia, as well as eating disorders which lead to obesity or wasting conditions.
PSIPress
PSIpress (Perfectly Scientific Press) is a new, wholly independent publisher. Their goal is to publish a wide range of science- and technology-oriented topics, including scientific papers, textbooks, medical and social research, and speculative fiction. Born out of an interest in providing an alternative to the usual publishing paradigm, PSIpress strives to help members of the science-minded community realize their full potential as published authors, and to help them enjoy the process.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: What distinguishes Give Food A Chance from much of the existing eating disorder literature is its firm rejection of blame-based explanations and its insistence on treating anorexia as a biological brain disorder rather than a behavioral choice or parenting failure. That reframing matters enormously for families who are already in crisis and too often told - explicitly or implicitly - that they caused their child's illness. Dr. O'Toole's decision to write for parents rather than solely for clinicians was itself a significant choice, putting detailed medical knowledge directly into the hands of the people most motivated to act on it. For a condition that remains one of the deadliest psychiatric disorders and a growing cause of disability among young people, accessible and evidence-informed resources like this one fill a genuine gap between clinical settings and the homes where much of the day-to-day work of recovery actually takes place - Disabled World (DW).Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Dr. Julie O'Toole and published on 2010/09/13, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.