Ninety-one percent of women surveyed on any given college campus had attempted to control their weight through dieting, and 22 percent dieted “often” or “always,” according to the Web site for the National Eating Disorders Association.
While the contrasting numbers are certainly boggling to the mind, help may be on the way for U students.
The Women’s Resource Center will host an eating disorder workshop on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Union Room 293.
Titled, “Building Body Image Resiliency,” the workshop will focus on developing skills that protect against disordered eating and negative body image.
It will also teach the participants to fight the “onslaught of information that tells us we’re not good enough,” said Kim Hall, programs coordinator for the center.
In addition, the group will identify the cultural and media triggers that convince women to equate their worth with unrealistic standards of beauty, Hall said.
Justine Reel, assistant professor for the Exercise and Sports Science Department, and Julia Gossett, a doctoral student in health promotion, will present coping strategies using interactive activities.
The workshop is the last of a the resource center’s semester-long series investigating eating disorders and body image, Hall said.
Eating disorder facts:
*In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.*At least 50,000 individuals will die as a direct result of an eating disorder.*Two out of five women and one out of five men would trade three to five years of their life to achieve their goal body weight.*The average woman is 5 feet 4 inches and weighs 140 pounds. The average model is 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are thinner than 98 percent of American women.*If today’s mannequins were actual human women, based on theoretical body fat percentages, they would probably cease to menstruate.*The mortality rate for anorexia is higher than for any other psychological disorder. In fact, it’s the number one cause of death among young women.*Eating disorders frequently co-occur with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders.
Sources: the Web sites for the National Institute for Mental Health, the National Eating Disorders Association and the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness