Worrying about weight harms college students

Do you exercise compulsively even if you are tired or sick? Do you avoid eating around other people, watch every mouthful or just feel so bad about how you look so that you can't enjoy life?\nUnfortunately, many students get caught up with the idea that thinness will result in happiness. The message lost is that happiness comes from inside, and the scale does not say anything about the kind of person you are in terms of your creativity, your thoughtfulness, your intelligence or even your physical beauty. Calorie counting, compulsive exercising and worrying about clothing size rob too many students of a satisfying college experience. \nThe prevalence of bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by cycles of binge eating and purging (eating excessive amounts of food in short periods of time, then getting rid of the food through vomiting, laxative use or over-exercising), is of particular concern. Studies indicate that incidents of bulimia may be as high as 15 percent in college-aged women. \nOther eating disorders include anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Anorexia involves an intense fear of gaining weight and self-starvation. Binge eating disorder is characterized by recurrent binges when the person eats a large amount of food at one sitting while feeling out of control. In contrast to bulimia, binge eaters do not purge their body of the food.\nEating Disorders are a complex physical, emotional and psychological condition reinforced by the cultural value that western society places on thinness. Eating disorders affect both men and women. At least 5 to 10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men in the United States are struggling with eating disorders. The eating disorder is often a person's method of coping with or avoiding events or feelings in his or her life. It may be a way for a person to feel control or nothing at all. \nStudents who do not have a full-blown eating disorder can still experience disordered eating, characterized by chronic dieting, obsessions about food and weight and often associated negative self-esteem. Disordered eating can occur as an acute response to life situations or to just lose a few pounds. Education and some counseling can often treat these unhealthy eating patterns. However, disordered eating can often spin out of control into an eating disorder necessitating more professional attention.\nWe encourage students to stop by one of the screening sites on body image and eating disorders offered by staff from Counseling and Psychological Services (CaPS) in conjunction with the Center for Human Growth and Health and Wellness Education. Free screenings and referral information for eating disorders in addition to interactive games, quizzes and a raffle will be held Thursday, Feb. 28 at Ballantine Hall and the Education Building Atrium from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and at the SRSC lobby from 4:30 to 7 p.m. The CaPS screening program is in conjunction with Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Feb. 24 to March 3, 2002.