Leah Stiles, CEO and founder of Sea Waves, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing eating disorders, attends the Joint Women's Leadership Symposium, in Arlington, Va., June 27, 2024. (Tyrah Jenkins)
Cristina Cintra, wife of a Marine Corps retiree, became concerned in spring when her daughter, 15, showed signs of extreme weight loss.
“My child is active, a straight A student, and she’s watching what she is eating. Oh my gosh, jackpot, right?” Cintra said by phone Aug. 28. “What I failed to realize is she was eating only 150 calories every three days.”
Once she suspected her daughter of suffering from anorexia nervosa, Cintra turned to Sea Waves, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing eating disorders and founded by Navy veteran Leah Stiles.
“If it wasn’t for [Stiles], my daughter would not be here,” said Cintra, of Port Saint John, Fla., whose husband, Marcelo Cintra, retired from the Marine Corps as a chief warrant officer 3 in 2014.
More eligible military families, active and retired, may benefit from Sea Waves — Support Education Awareness, Wellness and Validation for Eating Disorders and Self-Care – now that Military OneSource, a Pentagon-sponsored program, recently recognized the organization as resource for the military community.
“A great deal of care is given to the resources we make available through Military OneSource to support the everyday needs of our military community,” DOD spokesman Joshua Wick said by email Sept. 13. “By expanding resources that can be accessed through our Community Resource Finder, we seek to strengthen a culture of help seeking.”
Anorexia is an eating disorder that causes a strong fear of gaining weight. Sufferers may have a distorted view that they are overweight, even when they are dangerously thin. They may use extreme exercise, calorie and food limitations or binging and purging to control their weight. (Pexels)
Sea Waves is now available through Military OneSource’s resource finder, making it easier to find by people tackling the issue.
“This visibility and accessibility can be the first step in breaking down the stigma and making it more acceptable for people to seek help,” Stiles told Stars and Stripes via email Aug. 29
The organization has been a registered, tax-exempt charity since November, according to the IRS.
Stiles said she served in the Navy from 2002 to 2021 and retired as a senior chief petty officer. She battled eating disorders for over 30 years, including her time in the service.
“Seeking help was difficult because eating disorder resources tailored to military service members were virtually non-existent,” she said. “The lack of understanding and the stigma around eating disorders almost cost me my career and my life. My struggle and the stories of others I met along the way inspired me to create Sea Waves.”
The partnership with Military OneSource allows Sea Waves to directly reach service members, veterans and their families with vital information and support, while also making it easier for those who may not already know about Sea Waves to find and connect.
“I personally struggled with my own eating disorder,” Sea Waves volunteer Rebecca Singer said by phone Sept. 4. “For me, it was really hard to talk about it. It’s always scary to share something so vulnerable.”
Sea Waves is partnering with Project HEAL, which recognizes the military community as a marginalized group in accessing treatment for eating disorders, Stiles said.
“Through this collaboration, we are providing an unprecedented opportunity for service members, veterans, and their families by offering free, virtual clinical assessments for those who believe they might have an eating disorder,” she said.
People in the military community can access these assessments and share the results with their primary care manager for further support.
“This partnership is a vital resource that could be the first step toward identifying and treating eating disorders, ultimately saving lives,” Stiles said.
