Welcome to the International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians
IFEDD, The International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians,is the representative voice of dietitians working in the eating disorders field as well as non-dietitians who support patient access to nutrition counseling.
IFEDD members include dietitians who: work or have worked with individuals with eating disorders,conduct research on eating disorders, educate professionals and the public about eating disorders,consult with eating disorder treatment facilities as well as students and dietitians interested in our mission.
IFEDD members may also have additional specialty practice areas either within eating disorders or separately.
To join IFEDD as a Dietitian or Student Member, click here.
The overarching mission of IFEDD is to improve the quality of care of individuals with eating disorders by improving their access to eating disorder dietitians.
Identified obstacles include:
- Inadequate and often fraudulent lack of insurance coverage for eating disorder treatment and MNT/nutrition counseling
- Confusion among regulatory agencies, insurance companies and other healthcare institutions regarding the role of the EDD in eating disorder treatment
- Inadequate funding for eating disorder research and difficulties of conducting and publishing research while practicing
- Limited eating disorder training in the dietetics curriculum
- Limited eating disorder training and lack of education on the role of the dietitian in other professional education
- Lack of support for the special needs of the eating disorder dietitian within more general professional organizations
- Failure of the eating disorder industry to attend to the diversity of individuals with eating disorders, including those with one or more identities that our field has historically marginalized and underrepresented in assessment, treatment and research
In an effort to overcome these barriers, IFEDD has and will continue to support:
- Legislation requiring health insurance coverage of eating disorder treatment and MNT/nutrition counseling
- Access to eating disorders education for dietitians and dietetics students
- Credentialling of eating disorder specialist dietitians
- Education of the public, government and industry decision-makers about eating disorders and the role of the dietitian in the field
- Research to improve eating disorders treatment that specifically demonstrates the efficacy of the dietitian in eating disorder treatment
- Education of eating disorder dietitians beyond what is available elsewhere, particularly related to patient care for individuals in historically marginalized and underrepresented groups
What we do:
- Host an IRB for promoting research by our members
- Staff the IFEDD Access to CARE Project helping clients appeal insurance denials of eating disorder treatment
- Join the Eating Disorders Coalition to represent our voice in Washington
- Sent representatives to Eating Disorder Coalition Advocacy Day every year, plus other policy planning meetings, congressional briefings, and legislative events
- Keep the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Governmental Affairs office up to date on eating disorder-related legislation and insurance issues
- Participate in and publicize action alerts related to eating disorder legislation
- Alert IFEDD members about advanced eating disorder trainings, conferences and events
- Keep IFEDD members and supporters up to date on issues related to insurance coverage of eating disorder treatment services
- Provide a forum for IFEDD members to communicate about issues and concerns
- Initiate a public relations campaign to educate the public about insurance discrimination against eating disorder treatment
- Provide and publicize an online treatment directory of IFEDD members for anyone seeking eating disorder MNT
- Provide information about the role of the dietitian in eating disorder treatment to dietetics students
- Coordinate and encourage research on nutrition counseling in eating disorder treatment success
- Support the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP) Certified Eating Disorder Dietitian Credential (CEDRD)
- Host educational events our members need that are not addressed by other organizations or events
- Provide resources for members unavailable elsewhere
- Facilitate connections between members at conferences and events as well as in local groups
- Expand the diversity in our field by encouraging eating disorder dietitians of historically marginalized and underrepresented identities to join and participate
- Encourage interested students to learn about the eating disorder field by guest speaking to classes, precepting interns, and posting job listings
- Promote our members’ publications, products and courses
If you’re an eating disorder or interested dietitian, we’d love for you to join us. Click here to join, or send us an email with any questions.