Disordered Eating Delaware (DEDE) is a research group in the
Department of Behavioral Health and Nutrition at the University of Delaware.
DEDE was founded in 2018 by Dr. Carly Pacanowski and Dr. Christine Skubisz.
There are two main components to our research:
Identifying those at risk for disordered eating and eating disorders;
Testing components (e.g. intuitive eating programming, traditional nutrition education
programming, writing prompts, messages, yoga) of secondary prevention interventions to
optimize health and wellbeing among populations of interest.
Disordered eating encompasses a broad range of unhealthy cognitions, emotions, and behaviors
surrounding food, eating, and body concerns. Cognitions can range from obsession with weight
loss and preoccupation with shape and weight. Emotions may include guilt, shame, and fear.
Behaviors can range from severely restricting dietary intake to feeling a loss of control over
eating and harmful compensatory mechanisms like excessive exercise or vomiting.
People with disordered eating may not meet the criteria for an eating disorder diagnosis, but,
these are serious, concerning, risky for health.
Eating disorders are life-threatening mental health disorders, the most common being anorexia
nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.
If you feel that you’re experiencing any of the above, please seek these resources.