In 1978, American Anorexia and Bulimia Association (AA/BA) was founded by a mother of an anorexic daughter in suburban Teaneck, New Jersey to address anorexia and bulimia as a public health concern. The association launched a support-group program and other activities to help anorectics and their families. But the association neither garnered considerable financial supports fundings from government nor launched aggressive educational public campaigns until mid-1980s. Although anorexia was becoming a growing epidemic in the minds of physicians and scholars, the public-- parents, cultural leaders, and college administrators-- did not view anorexia as a fatal disease and thus undermined AA/BA’ s capability to publicize the disease. Three major
