30

The development of effective prevention strategies for eating disorders (ed) is particularly crucial given the severity of their direct consequences, their high risk of a chronic course and their modest rates of recovery. Most eds emerge during the school-age period. Thus, those professionals who accompany children during this period remain key players in the early detection and prevention of ed. They need to be made aware of and trained in early screening methods and in the transmission of adequate prevention messages. With this objective in mind, we will summarize various concepts and definitions related to prevention, and will provide a developmental synthesis of the empirical literature on the subject, along with illustrations of universal, selective and targeted prevention programs.