Think back to the first time you ever heard the word “fat.” Chances are, the very first time you ever heard this word it was being used to describe a person. Even more likely, that person was you and you were probably very young.

For most people, this word means nothing; they are able to brush it off and move on with their lives. But for others, the word “fat” consumes every aspect of their life. They become obsessed with it, they will do anything to be the opposite of it. Because when you first hear the word “fat” at seven years old, you don’t know what it means but you can tell that it is something you should never want to be just by the tone of the voice saying it.

These people who cannot let go of the insult the word “fat” brings with it, are the ones who develop eating disorders in the future. There are 30 million people suffering from eating disorders in the United States alone. This number may seem shocking, but what’s even more shocking is the amount of people who don’t know about the resources out there to help them.

The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) is an organization formed in 2001 that seeks to raise awareness of eating disorders and provide support for suffers as well as the family and friends of those suffering. NEDA supplies resources such as a website (nationaleatingdisorders.org) where families can go to find treatment options and learn facts about eating disorders and a help line run by volunteers that is open to people struggling or just looking for someone to talk to.

But one of NEDA’s main events is their NEDA walk. Most weekends throughout the year, the NEDA team travels around the country to host walks in different cities. The walks are open to eating disorder survivors, sufferers, friends and family of those struggling, and anyone who just wants to help raise awareness to eating disorders.

I participated in the New York City NEDA walk last October, and the first question I was asked by everyone I met was, “Why do you NEDA walk?” At first, I couldn’t think of a good answer; but once I really started to think about it, I had more reasons than I could count.

I walk for the little girl who spent her entire life trying to be anything but “fat.” I walk for every boy who was too afraid to ask for help because “boys can’t have eating disorders.” I walk because it is more common for a teenage girl to hate her body than it is for her to like it. I walk because I was seven years old the first time I heard the word “fat” directly correlated to my body. I walk because my best friend couldn’t ask for help because she didn’t want to look like she was asking for attention. I walk because only one in every 10 people with an eating disorder receive the proper diagnosis and treatment.

I NEDA walk for the day that “fat” is no longer used as an insult, for the day that there is no more stigma surrounding eating disorders, for the day that these awful mental illnesses don’t exist at all. I walk every single person affected by eating disorders, and you should, too.

If you or someone who know is struggling with an eating disorder or body image issues visit www.nationaleatingdisorders.org or call 1-800-931-2237