Eating disorders and disordered weight control behaviors present a significant threat to the health of adolescents and adults, yet they remain largely overlooked by public health and preventive medicine professionals. To address this critical need, we launched the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders in July 2009, based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital, with the goal of building a transdisciplinary training initiative that will generate professionals with the depth and range of expertise and skills needed to take on the challenge of eating disorders prevention. Our initiative is a public health incubator, designed to cultivate novel insights and strategies for prevention. We introduce trainees to a rich array of disciplinary perspectives, methodologies, and theories and provide them with opportunities to join crosscutting collaborative teams.
