Eating disorders are a real problem in Wyoming, local experts assured the public during a panel discussion Monday night at Casper College.

"My son's gym teacher says he is underweight. Is there anything I can do?" one mother asked.

"What should I tell someone who says she is never hungry?" asked a worried teenage student.

A panel answered their questions and shared their stories of dealing with eating disorders, having a positive body image and eating nutritiously.

This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and the Natrona County Eating Disorders Task Force continued its four-year effort to educate people in the state about the hidden disease by offering the panel discussion.

"There are a lot of wrong things you can say and not a lot of right things," 27-year-old Charlynn Schmiedt told the teenager about her friend. "If it keeps persisting talk to school counselors. If you know her parents, talk to them."

Schmiedt said she was not speaking as one of the professionals but as someone with an eating disorder.

She has struggled with an eating disorder since she was 19 and although she has three years of recovery behind her, she still says she is not over it.

About 60 percent of people in recovery for an eating disorder relapse in the first year, Schmiedt told the audience of about a dozen community members.

George Ovecka, a registered dietician, spoke about eating healthy and others mentioned eating disorder support groups in the community, such as the dysfunctional eating program in Celebrate Recovery at Highland Park Community Church.

Maureena Esau, a school nurse at Kelly Walsh High School, said she sometimes sees eating disorders in some students, but it is also hard to detect.

"It's a well-kept secret," Esau said. "That's part of the reason it is so dangerous. They would do anything to hide it."

The body image presentation by Candise Leininger, a Casper licensed professional counselor, resonated with what Esau sees students dealing with in the media.

Leininger is one of only a handful of providers who treats people with eating disorders. She said she is seeing more boys and men with eating disorders as male models now have almost-unattainable washboard abs, muscular arms and thin waists.

"Guys don't have it any easier these days," Leininger said. "You used to be good to just put on a nice suit like Cary Grant."

Toys, like Barbie dolls and G.I. Joe action figures, give young children the wrong impression about beauty, and the media only perpetuates this as they grow older.

In the 60s, Marilyn Monroe's size 16 defined beauty, but now models are size zeroes, Leininger said.

A good support system of counselors, family and friends has helped her recovery, said Schmiedt, who works on the design desk at the Star-Tribune. She also started a blog to help others at www.disorderedtimes.com.

Before the task force, Esau said it was difficult to find anyone in Casper who knew what to do with eating disorders. Now, she said Casper has a strong team.

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week continues

Get screened

What: A free mental health screening for eating disorders.

Where: Casper College Counseling and Student Development Center in the Administration Building 112.

When: Thursday, Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more info: Contact Joanne Theobald at (307) 268-2231.

See the history

What: A display entitled "Until Eating Disorders are History," which chronicles the history of eating disorders from the fourth century to the present.

Where: Doornbos Student Lounge in the Casper College Administration Building.

When: Feb. 23 through Feb. 27.

For more info: Contact Joanne Theobald at (307) 268-2231.