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I Was Diagnosed With Anorexia at 10 Years Old Kristina Saffran On 2/23/21 at 5:00 AM EST
Growing up, I was someone who fit the stereotype of what eating disorders look like I was upper middle class, white, female and thin. I suspect those factors influenced the early diagnosis for my own eating disorder when it developed.
While at elementary school, my babysitter was dieting and mimicking her choices though she had no intention of influencing me triggered an adolescence dominated by anorexia. Quickly, I transformed from an extroverted, opinionated young girl to someone who was painfully shy, self conscious, and only cared about taking in as little food as possible. I was diagnosed with anorexia at 10 years old.
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San Diego startup Equip, which uses a telehealth platform to bring a top quality outpatient treatment for eating disorders to more people virtually, has raised $13 million in Series A venture capital funding.
The new financing, announced this week, builds on the $4 million in seed funding that the female-founded company received after opening its doors in 2019. Equip plans to use the money to expand its geographic reach, continue building its clinical team, further develop its technology platform and launch programs with more insurance companies to grow the business.
Kristina Saffran, who recovered from anorexia as a teenager and founded the nonprofit Project Heal at the age of 15, launched the company with Dr. Erin Parks, a clinical psychologist and researcher at UC San Diego’s Eating Disorders Center.