Eating disorders affect people all over the world. They are found in all genders, ages, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, body shapes and weights. To address the broad scope of eating disorders, diverse approaches are needed. Embracing this diversity is the goal of the 2017 International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) hosted by the Academy for Eating Disorders, June 8-10, 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic. ICED 2017 will bring together professionals and advocates from across the globe to promote best practices in eating disorders prevention, treatment, education and research.
The ICED program features a keynote address by Professor Vikram Patel (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Public Health Foundation of India) titled Psychological Treatments for the World: Lessons from Global Mental Health for Eating Disorders. It includes four plenary sessions covering complex issues in research and practice including: clinical staging models and personalized treatment approaches; atypical eating disorder presentations; collaboration between the obesity and eating disorders fields; and the clinical value of neuroimaging research. ICED 2017 will also offer 33 interactive workshops presented by leading scientists and clinicians in the eating disorders field; 132 paper presentations; and nearly 300 poster presentations by scholars from around the globe. Consistent with the conference theme, Diverse Perspectives, Shared Goals, the ICED 2017 program emphasizes sessions that offer multiple viewpoints. "One of the goals of the conference is to provide a venue for professionals with diverse backgrounds to meet and collaborate around a shared commitment to improving the lives of people with eating disorders," said Dr. Jennifer Wildes, Academy Fellow and co-chair of the ICED 2017 program committee.