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NEDA seeks to raise eating disorder awareness

By Gaveliers, The Gavel Media Team, on February 19, 2010 3:06 AM

By Alison Athey, Assoc. Features Editor -

Many Boston College students have heard horror stories about the Plex, from students on the elliptical machines for hours on end to girls eating packets of Splenda so they won’t pass out while exercising. These are signs of a pervasive culture of disordered eating that has created a formidable presence on campus.

Forty percent of female college students have eating disorders, according to the Massachusetts Eating Disorders Association. To combat this widespread problem, Feb. 21 – 27 is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Dur­ing NEDAwareness there will be several online seminars that call upon healthcare practitioners, social workers and all those affected by eating disorders to raise awareness by organizing events in their own communities.

“Our aim of NEDAwareness Week is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surround­ing eating disorders and improving access to treatment,” says The National Eating Disorder Associa­tion (NEDA) Web site.

“There is a difference between being healthy and being sick. There is such a fine line and it is being crossed all the time. It’s scary,” a Boston Col­lege senior who has had several close friends with eating disorders.

This student, who asks to remain anonymous to protect the privacy of her friends, remembers a close friend putting herself on Weight Watchers in the sixth grade. Instead of eating balanced meals on this diet program, the young girl would save all of her “points” for Twiz­zlers and Hohos.

Many BC students know that anorexia is characterized by restricted eating habits and that bulimia is based on binging followed by compensatory behaviors. The physical consequences of these disorders are far-reaching, among them nose bleeds, stained teeth, inability to menstruate, hair loss and the development of lanugo, a soft, coating of hair on the arms, face and back that occurs when body fat decreases too significantly. Accord­ing to the American Psychological Association, anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychotic disorder at 10 -15 percent.

No single cause of eating disorders is known, but research­ers believe that it is linked to a combination of factors, including genetics, depression, anxiety, famil­ial difficulties and imbalances of the neurotransmitter Seratonin.

Distorted self-image is a critical feature of eating disorders, and many sufferers experience feelings of inadequacy. High-achieving people with perfectionist tendencies are also vulnerable to disordered eating, which is a characteristic typical to students at competetive universities.

Women at BC may be especially at risk for developing eating disor­ders. NEDA states that anorexia is more prevalent in young, upper-middle class women, who make up a large proportion of the student body. However, anyone can develop an eating disorder, regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status, size or sexual orientation.

There are many on-campus re­sources available to students with dis­ordered eating. University Counsel­ing Services and University Health Services offer some psychological and nutritional counseling. The University also employs a nutritionist available by appointment on Tues­days and Thursdays. The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) offers a variety of resources for people who struggle with disordered eating, as well as those who care for them.

“There are weekly support group meetings for those struggling with eating issues, and in the WRC we regularly see students strug­gling with eating issues or friends of students struggling with those issues,” says Rachel Lamorte a staff member at the WRC and A&S ’10.

The group, known as HOPE (Healthy Options for the Pressure of Eating) is facilitated by two graduate students who have extensive training in the area of eating issues.

The WRC is not planning any events related to National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Instead, they organize Love Your Body Week in the fall semester and offer ongo­ing services throughout the year.

“We try to make Love Your Body Week focused on healthy body image promotion and eating issues awareness to make it a positive week while also getting at some incredibly difficult issues,” says Lamorte, who was the chief coordinator of the event in 2008 and 2009.

“We’re always looking at the efficiency and effectiveness of our programs and we’ve had many stu­dents give positive feedback about Love Your Body Week,” she says.

Despite these services, BC students still hear those same horror stories from the Plex. It is clear that eating disorders have a large and negative presence on campus, but many students do not know how to help friends or address peers who engage in unhealthy eating and exercising habits.

The WRC Web site offers detailed advice to students who are concerned about loved ones who struggle with eating. They offer a guide on how to set up interven­tions, what to expect in the process, and a perspective on the subjective experience of people with disor­dered eating.

“It is so easy to go on with­out addressing [a friend’s eating disorder],” the anonymous source says. “If you catch it early enough, though, they can be helped in a relatively quick fashion, as opposed to being sent away [for treatment].”

When confronting a friend about his or her eating behaviors, it is im­portant to know common mistakes to avoid — telling a friend that she looks “disgustingly thin” can be in­terpreted as a compliment, whereas telling someone in recovery that she looks “healthy” can be seen as code for “fat” — but without the encour­agment of loved ones, few people know how to reach out for help.

“Many people who recover acknowledge the importance of friends who believed in them and kept trying to reach through to them,” says the WRC website.

Especially on college campuses, where residence halls become a second home to many students, friends and roommates can play an important role in helping to reduce and raise awareness of disordered eating.