Eating Disorders in Schools with Psychologist & Director of BMA Sarah McMahon

Understanding Body Matters Podcast

On this weeks episode I am super excited to be bringing on the podcast our much loved guest and Director here at BodyMatters Australasia Sarah McMahon. Sarah is a clinical psychologist and the Director of BodyMatters Australasia which is an eating disorder treatment clinic based in Sydney, Cremorne. That utilises the discipline of psychologists, dieticians, paediatricians, social workers, psychotherapists, as well as multiple other stakeholders. Sarah Co- Founded BodyMatters with Lydia Turner in 2009 as a way to go beyond the biomedical model in the treatment of eating disorders. Sarah is also the Founder of the grassroots advocacy group 'Collective Shout' where she has Chaired the organisation for six of its eight years.

Sarah has been involved in organisations such as Lifeline and is a Founding Member and Board Member of 'Endangered Bodies'. Where Sarah was also on the ANZAED Carer Consumer Committee. Sarah Holds a Masters in Public Health and is passionate about educating the community on eating disorders. Where Sarah is a regular voice in the Media. Sarah has written several book chapters including the body image & eating disorder chapter in Steve Biddulph's 2013 international best seller 'Raising Girls' and contributed to Collet Smart's 2019 book "They'll be okay: 15 Conversations to Help Your Child Through Troubled Times". More recently, she has been interviewed extensively in Kasey Edwards & Christopher Scanlons "Raising Girls Who Like Themselves". Where Sarah has also worked with schools, workplaces, charities, and many more organisational bodies in the fight towards a culture without the dominating presence of eating disorders.

That is why I am so excited to be bringing Sarah back on the podcast to speak about the topic of eating disorders in schools. As it is an ever present issue and a pressing social distortion that is forcefully emerging within the Australian and International school systems. As adolescence is a key developmental time within children's lives, kids are a lot more susceptible to the perpetuation of eating disorders within the school environments. So, to shed some light on how to best navigate the ever emerging eating disorders for young children, Sarah McMahon will be providing some of the must needed knowledge for students, schools, teachers and parents. So please give a warm welcome to Sarah and happy listening!

Podcast Summary:

1. Diet culture in schools

2. Childhood bullying

3. Social media in schools

4. Normalising changing bodies

5. Hunger and fullness cues

Links from the episode:

BodyMatters Australasia Website: https://bodymatters.com.au/

BodyMatters Instagram: bodymattersau

Butterfly Foundation Helpline: Call their National Helpline on 1800 33 4673. You can also chat online or email