Dr. Marcy Forta

Did you know that size awareness and size shaming both start very early and are evident in children as young as 3 years old? Only 3 years old?? And, if left unaddressed and unchecked, only get worse. In fact, by the age of 9, studies show that weight bias is as common among kids as […]

As last week was eating disorder awareness week, I hosted a webinar entitled, “Eating Disorders in the Jewish Orthodox Community, A Guide for Parents.” Below you will find the link. I hope you find it both informative and helpful in your understanding of eating disorders, their risks, onset, signs and symptoms, and what you can […]

Often it is hard for us to recognize and appreciate the unique and wonderful qualities, talents, and abilities each of us is endowed with. It is challenging for us to be grateful for these things when sometimes, it makes us different from other people and hampers us from “fitting in”.  We struggle with expectations – […]

After last week’s Mishpacha disaster (for which they have since apologized), I thought I should share some actual, real-life quotes that I’ve heard from various people about things mothers say to their daughters about losing weight. The reality is that no mother deliberately wants to hurt or embarrass or trigger her daughter, but with sentiments […]

I have spent the better part of the last two years explaining just how delicate our body image is and how our cultural and religious risk factors make us, the Jewish female population, up to 2x more likely than the general population to experience an eating disorder at some point in our lives. I have […]

As we are all well aware, BMI or body mass index is one of the foundations of health care around the world. BMI is a mathematical formula that divides a person’s weight by the square of their height to arrive at a number that falls into various bodyweight categories. This number, in turn, is used […]

I wanted to share with you a passage from an amazing, life changing book that I highly recommend, called The Gift by Edith Eger: “Unfortunately, many families, in trying to motivate children to do well for themselves, create a culture of achievement in which the child’s “being” gets entwined with her “doing”; she’s taught she […]

I want to get your thoughts. There was a New York Post article published at the end of October, highlighting parents’ outrage over retouched photos of their children’s school pictures. Services were being offered through the photography company to whiten children’s teeth, even their skin tone, take away blemishes and freckles. In fact, one of […]

I was recently interviewed by Rabbi Hershel Finman on the Jewish hour about Atzmi, self-esteem, self-compassion, body image, and eating disorders. I so appreciated having the opportunity to get the word out about our mission and work. The interview has now been published as a podcast. If you would like to listen, click to play […]

Up until recently, there have only been anecdotal reports about rising eating disorder incidence and consequence during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, however, we have scientific data to back this devastating fact up. Sadly, inpatient admissions, hospital bed stays, as well as outpatient care for adolescents and young adults have increased significantly over the course of […]