YMCA Healthy Living Magazine, powered by n4 food and health (Winter 2015) | Page 17

LILY WANTS
MORE PEOPLE TO
LOVE THEIR BODY
Lily Dunn has a plan to help other young people enhance their body image.
ating disorders and body
image issues are increasingly
prevalent all over the world,
with young people particularly at risk.

increase her skills and meet other
young people who have a similar drive
to create positive change in their
communities.

The impact on Australians is
significantly underestimated. Lily Dunn
wants to use her personal experience
to change this.

Through the workshops, the YMCA
LaunchPad created a space that
allowed Lily to talk about her
experience with an eating disorder. She
says ‘I felt a real pride for having
recovered. I’d never felt like that
before.’

E

Through the YMCA LaunchPad, Lily
wants to help other young people
become happier, healthier and in love
with their body.
Lily was a participant on the latest
YMCA LaunchPad, a camping program
that introduces young people to the
concept of social enterprise.
Despite having no prior connection to
the Y, Lily saw this as an opportunity to

It is estimated that around one in ten
Australians are affected by an eating
disorder, with adolescents representing
the peak period of onset. There are also
high levels of body dissatisfaction
among adolescent girls, with 70 per
cent reporting a level of unhappiness
with their appearance.

Lily wants to use her YMCA
LaunchPad experience to create a
program for schools that increases
awareness and reduces
misconceptions about eating
disorders. She hopes that it will help
others to recognise eating disorders
and know where and how to get
treatment.
‘I dream of a world where all boys and
girls love their body,’ says Lily.
Lily is just one of many young,
budding social entrepreneurs using
the YMCA LaunchPad to turn their
dreams into a reality.
To learn more about the YMCA
LaunchPad visit www.vicyouth.ymca.
org.au/programs/launchpad.html

To find out how you can
support someone with an
eating disorder, learn how to
recognise the early warning
signs, understand treatment
options, and more visit Eating
Disorders Victoria
(eatingdisorders.org.au)
or The Butterfly Foundation
(thebutterflyfoundation.org.au)

WINTER 2015 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE

17