Help for Compulsive Eaters, Bulimics and Anorexics

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Public Outreach

Please review the links and additional details below for more information about Overeaters Anonymous. If you have any questions, please contact the OA office at (818) 888-4776 or email publicinfo@oasfvalley.org.

About us
Overeaters Anonymous (OA) is a community of people who support each other in order to recover from compulsive eating and food behaviors. We welcome everyone who feels they have a problem with food. Read the full OA Preamble.

The first meeting of Overeaters Anonymous was held in Hollywood, California, USA on January 19, 1960. Rozanne S. attended a Gamblers Anonymous meeting two years earlier to help a friend and realized the format of the Twelve Steps meeting might hold an answer to her own addictive behavior as it related to food. Her vision of how this simple program could bring recovery to all those who suffered from compulsive overeating resulted in the worldwide organization that exists today.

New to OA? Start Here:

Treatment and Beyond: OA support during and after treatment (#757)
How do OA members achieve a healthy weight?

Professionals

Curious how Overeaters Anonymous (OA) can support your work to help your patients who are compulsive eaters? You’re in the right place. We work alongside many like you. OA complements your recommendations. OA offers an ongoing support system for members and encourages them to help one another–thereby weakening their isolation and loneliness. OA claims no medical, nutritional, or psychological expertise. We recommend members contact qualified professionals for help in these areas. 

When Should I Refer Someone to Overeaters Anonymous? Download the eBook or order the pamphlet.

For more about the behaviors our members have reported using to both conceal and cope with their compulsive eating, take a few moments to read: Compulsive Overeating—an Inside View: The Various Manifestations of Compulsive Overeating (#320).

Read our latest copy of the Professional Community Courier newsletter.

Media & Press Kit
Please feel free to download our press kit, along with a five-minute version of our audio program “Hearing is Believing,” featuring profiles of OA members who have recovered from compulsive eating through the OA program.

Resources to help those who might be coming into the program at a young age


What to Remember When You See Your Doctor or Other Health Care Professional Workshop
This workshop is a product of the World Service Business Conference Professional Outreach committee. The committee’s aim was to educate Overeaters Anonymous members on how to carry the message to health care providers.

Fifteen Questions
Now that you have found Overeaters Anonymous, you may want to make sure our program is right for you. Many of us have found it useful to answer the following questions to help determine if we have a problem with compulsive eating.

Many people come to OA expecting diets, weigh-ins, and lectures on food and weight. To their surprise (and often relief), they find that OA offers none of these things. OA Is Not a Diet Club: We in OA believe we have a threefold illness—physical, emotional, and spiritual (#111)

Family & Friends

We’re glad you’re here – Watching friends and loved ones suffer from compulsive eating can be painful, confusing, and even frustrating. You’re not alone and neither is your loved one. But first, let’s find out if your instincts are correct.

  • If you are looking for a way to help a family member or friend, please visit our Family & Friends page.

Someone close to you has decided to get help with their food problem by coming to Overeaters Anonymous. To try to stop eating compulsively may not seem like a big decision at first, but it can be life-changing.

Posters and Notes

Social Media

PIPO Podcasts (for English and French speakers)

Guidelines for Public Information Events
Public information events are excellent ways of informing the public about the Overeaters Anonymous (OA) program of recovery.

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