“Food, glorious food. Hot sausage and mustard. While we’re in the mood… Cold jelly and custard.”
These lyrics from the musical Oliver Twist adapted from Charles Dickens’ popular novel of the same name, ring true for many of us. It’s that piece of cake in the fridge, those fresh pies displayed in the bakery, or that tub of ice-cream in the freezer that calls out your name, desperate to be eaten.
While a lot of people are able to control their food cravings, there are many who cannot. Overeating and food addictions have existed since the dawn of man and in recent years overeating and related disorders have received much attention from the science fraternity.
An eating disorder begins when a person develops an insatiable appetite for foods high in sugar, fat or salt, which soon turns into an addiction. Similar to a drug addiction, giving into these cravings has an effect on the pleasure centres in the brain. And obesity is a symptom of that addiction.
The condition is highly treatable, however, and overeaters in the Northside area can now join a support group to help them beat the disorder. Held every Saturday morning at 10.30am at the NG Kerk at 1140 Cornelius Street in Weltevreden Park, the group aims to find recovery by using an adapted version of the 12-step recovery programme used in Alcoholics Anonymous.
“Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is a fellowship with fellows who are anorexic, bulimic and overeaters,” said OA group leader Claudia Visser. “And we come together at these meetings to find recovery from our food addictions.”
Group member Helen Kotzen said one of the most important roles that group members play is to provide support for other members. “We are appealing to people in the area that have problems with overeating to please join our group,” Kotzen said. “It is believed that overeating can eventually be fatal or cause other serious illnesses such as diabetes, so we take this issue very seriously.”
Details: OA group leader, Claudette 082 331 5169.
