The Kartini Foundation was established in 2001 to serve children and
adolescents (ages 6 - 17) of the Pacific Northwest who suffer from eating
disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating
disorders, as well as those whose disordered eating contributes to obesity
or wasting conditions.
The Kartini Foundation is organized to fulfill its purposes in three
ways:
(1) To help fund medical treatment for adolescents and children who
suffer from eating disorders and who otherwise would not be able to
obtain appropriate medical treatment, due to economic circumstance
(2) To help fund genetic and brain research to find the underlying
causes of eating disorders
(3) To help publish the results of research about the causes of eating
disorders, and their treatment
The Kartini Foundation is a non-profit corporation organized under
the laws of the State of Oregon, and recognized as a §501(c) (3)
tax-exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service.
Why do we need a Foundation to help pay for medical treatment of eating
disorders in children and teens?
The Foundation’s program for funding support for medical treatment
is critically needed because many children and adolescents with eating
disorders lack adequate health insurance and are not otherwise able
to afford adequate medical treatment. New research in neurobiology and
genetics has revealed that anorexia and bulimia are inherited (genetic)
conditions steered by powerful but poorly understood brain chemistry.
This understanding of the medical nature of eating disorders can help
family and friends understand what eating disordered children and teens
are up against. However, older, mistaken beliefs about eating disorders
prevail in the general population, the medical and the health insurance
communities.
Many people wrongly think that parents cause eating disorders, or that
children choose to have them.
Some physicians still believe that eating disorders are psychological
in origin. Many health insurance companies continue to classify eating
disorders as mental health problems, so medical insurance will not cover
their treatment. Even families whose benefits include some mental health
coverage often find their benefits for treatment of eating disorders
are profoundly inadequate. Eating disorders strike children without
regard to economic background. Families of modest means face considerable
obstacles to obtaining appropriate medical treatment for their eating
disordered children. Significantly, Oregon and Washington state public
health coverage for treatment of eating disorders is so marginal that
many physicians who treat eating disorders cannot accept such plans.
The Kartini Foundation has taken on the job of helping to provide funding
for appropriate medical care for all adolescents suffering from eating
disorders, when their family’s economic resources are otherwise
lacking.
