What can be done to reduce the incidence of anorexia and bulimia among adolescents?

In an ideal world, it would be necessary to influence the sociocultural factors of the disease; that is, the fashion, beauty, and consumer industries, as well as advertising and the media, would commit to health and respect for body diversity by promoting a lifestyle and beauty model consistent with these rights and values.

It would also be necessary to finally break down current gender stereotypes that promote the belief that women should be "pretty, helpful and submissive" and men "strong, dominant and economically powerful".

We are still far from achieving this paradigm shift, but there are some things we can do:

• Promote early detection and intervention in incipient cases, since the sooner we act, the better the prognosis for recovery will be.
• Strengthening all those aspects that act as protective factors against eating disorders is crucial: healthy self-esteem, a positive body image, respect for body diversity, and a critical perspective on societal pressure to conform to a certain body type and role. Families play a vital role in this regard through their example and by adopting simple habits such as eating one meal a day together as a family.