Eating disorders: Starving to be thin

Anna (not her real name), anorexic since 15, makes herself eat sometimes and other times decides not to listen to other people's comments which have triggered her eating disorder.

"I have always been skinny," she says, "but not as skinny as my older sister. I would look at her and think that I had to be skinnier than her since I was younger. People used to tell me that I was going to be fat when I got older. It was a big joke to a lot of people, but it affected me more than they will ever know. They made stupid comments like, 'Anna, you are getting so big that soon you won't be able to fit through the double doors."

Anna is one of an estimated 10 million females and one million males who struggle with an eating disorder, according to the National Eating Disorder Association. NEDA statistics also show 80 percent of women are unhappy with their weight and 91 percent of college women have been on at least one diet during their college experience.

Of the 91 percent of college females that do diet, 22 percent claim they are "always" on a diet. On average 25 percent of males and 45 percent of females are on a diet nation wide. Americans also spend over $40 billion a year on dieting and diet-related products and 35 percent of dieters end up with a serious eating disorder.

Early returns from a survey of EMU students indicate only a small minority of EMU females feel the pressure to live up to the media's ideal thinness. EMU nursing students Holly Crosby, Lisa Ehst, Jessica Holecko, and Audra Baker have sent out a campus wide survey asking questions relating to weight and the media.

Several events on campus will give special attention to this problem during Eating Disorder Awareness Week, Feb. 28 through March 4. The "Body Image and the Media" presentation scheduled for Tuesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium will provide more details and statistics about how the media affects the image of the perfect body.

EMU Counseling Services offer several means for coping with an eating disorder. The Eating Disorder Support Group is held on Tuesdays from 7:30-8:30 p.m. in the Wellness Suite. Individual counseling services are also available.

This Friday, Feb. 25, there will be a large board full of eating disorder statistics on display in the Campus Center and student comments are welcome. Students can find other events to be held during Eating Disorder Awareness Week on the Campus Calendar.