About a million Canadians are living with an eating disorder, and London has one of the highest rates in the country.
Nadine Visser started showing signs of an eating disorder at just 10 years old.
"You feel like you're the only one going through it. You feel rather isolated...Because of the pressures I felt at school and around my peers I began restricting my food intake," she says.
By the time she was 12 the situation had become much worse.
"I became such a dangerous weight that it alerted the concern of my parents and my friends and teachers, so at that time I sought medical help."
Now 30, Visser says problems still resurface at times, but it helps to know she's not alone.
In youths ages 18-24, London has one of the highest eating disorder rates, explains Natasha Newby of Hope's Garden.
"The national average being two per cent and in London youth it's four per cent."
That makes it very busy at Hope's Garden, where they offer support resources and tools to increase body confidence and self-esteem.
Around 150 people walk through the doors for help monthly and over half are new clients.
While the organization helps those over 18, there are parents who arrive seeking help for kids as young as six.
Newby says that worrisome because, "Eating disorders have the highest fatality rate than any other mental illness. It takes the lives of more than 1,500 Canadians annually which is four lives lost daily."
Visser hopes sharing her story will help others who may be suffering in silence realize, "That they're not alone and that there are resources out there that can help them."
