Eating Disorders
It’s 2 a.m. and her stomach rumbles the equivalentof an 8.0 earthquake. She rises out of bed and looks at her reflection in the mirror. Pointed edges and concave areas define what’s left of her withering body. She stands awkwardly as she examines the shadows formed by the light and looks back on that no mayo- no bread grilled chicken sandwich she took a bite of a couple hours ago. Disgusted by the thought of the digested food, she makes a promise to herself not to eat for another week and declares, “I will be beautiful.”
Whether we are aware of it, the mentality of believing that beauty is limited to a certain body type influences us more than we think.
“Bone skinny is the new beauty,” says Rahul Jacob, an RA at one of USC’s residence halls.
The statement remains to be true in today’s society, including college campuses throughout the country. This philosophy that states being beautiful means being skinny is affecting the minds of many college students, both women and men, and is supposedly the ultimate reason why students suffer from eating disorders.
Take Lucy*, 42, for example, who, during college, battled with several eating disorders. She felt she “was carrying a lot of weight” even though she was 5 feet 2 inches and 95 lbs.
The desire to look attractive has stood the test of time, but the definition of what is attractive has altered throughout the years. Full-figured and womanly in the fifties, waiflike in the sixties, natural in the seventies and the eighties, and back to the stick-thin waifs of today, and each decade has its symbolic woman that defines the desired look of the time. The fifties had Marilyn, the sixties had Twiggy, and today we have celebrities with body figures too slender to fit into a size 1 dress. College students are surrounded by this image as the only picture of beauty.
“Eating disorders causes are multi-faceted,” said Deborah Zippel, registered dietician and nutrition educator and sports dietitian at USC. According to Zippel, psychological factors such as low self-esteem or a lack of control can be the reason. Interpersonal issues like troubled relationships can trigger disorders as well, along with biological factors and social issues, which is popular in the college environment. For Lucy, her cause was mild depression and low self- esteem. “I started having low self- esteem and the media just kind of made it worse. If my mind was healthy or I wasn’t depressed, I don’t think the media portrayal of a perfect body would have affected me.”
According to the experts at healthyplace.com, major transitions and low self-esteem are two of the leading causes of anorexia and bulimia. It is no wonder then that so many college freshmen suffer from some sort of eating disorder.
“College, especially in freshmen year, is a really bad time for maintaining a positive self conscious and body image,” said Gina DiMartino, a first-year student at USC.
As freshmen enter their first year of college, they are faced with new people, new surroundings and new social standards to live up to. Freshmen are more likely to suffer from an eating disorder because of the “stress of change coming to college and the pressures associated with lifestyle change, fitting in and limited food choices on campus contributing to weight gain,” said Zippel. She said that many women engage in bulimic behaviors by binge drinking, eating late and then vomiting to control weight.
A sense of control is also a reason why Lucy, and so many college students, engaged in drastic measures when it came to weight gain.
“Being bulimic and a binge eater made me think that it was something I had power or control over,” said Lucy of her need for control. “I was able to eat anything and then force myself to get sick. It felt good when the weight started to come off.”
Lucy said she enjoyed eating her favorite food and believed she was doing something good for her body. Like Lucy, students now feel they too are doing something good for their bodies by engaging in dangerous actions.
According to National College Health Assessment taken by 1,258 USC students and other students nationwide in spring 2006, an estimated 3.2 percent of females and 0.5 percent of males admitted to vomiting or taking laxatives to lose weight. About 6.2 percent of women and 3 percent of men took diet pills, and 50 percent of women and 30 percent of men admitted to dieting. It is no surprise then that the National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 10 percent of college women suffer from eating disorders. Although seemingly high, this statistic still represents only the cases of those that were diagnosed.
However, students are not surprised by the statistics. Many students and RAs right here on campus have suffered or have known someone who has suffered from anorexia or bulimia. Jacob had two students in his residence hall that had severe problems with these disorders. One girl, one guy, and their disorders withheld. The girl lived around the idea that she was not beautiful because she wasn’t skinny enough, and the guy put off eating altogether for about a month. Both students ended up basing everything they did around the disorder, allowing it to consume their actions, their thoughts and ultimately their lives.
Everyone holds their own opinion as to what is the actual cause of these disorders. Emily Luna, a freshman with an interest in health and fitness, believed it is the feeling of having no control at the start of college that is the main cause of anorexia or bulimia.
“[The control] felt liberating at first,” Lucy said. “But then I got addicted to the thought that I can eat what I want and I can control what stays in my body, but the entire experience got scarier. Instead of having control over the situation, I felt out of control.”
Friends of victims here on campus witness the harsh realities of having an eating disorder and struggle to help their friends
“It made me realize it’s not something to joke about,” said Luna about a classmate’s struggle. “You don’t know who’s covering up what.”
Like Luna, friends of victims do their best to help better the situation and put an end to the suffering.
“I listened to him vent and then asked him if he was willing to go to counseling or a nutritionist here on campus,” said Jacob.
Luckily, Jacob’s student was willing to get help and became stable after all, but not all victims are willing to share their problem. After hearing a doctor advise her to “just not do it anymore,” Lucy kept her problem between herself, “the bowl and the mirror in the bathroom.” Despite the many outlets for help with eating disorders, many deny they even have a problem.
Unlike other college students, athletes have different physical standards and requirements they must keep up or else they risk getting thrown off a team. Track athletes for example are told to stay slender and in shape, but with the many hours of practice and training the athletes have to endure, eating may be the last thing on the list to deal with.
With all of the fast food places and dining halls on campus, staying in shape seems to be an impossible feat. The high level of requirements, although for the betterment of the team, definitely put athletes’ health in danger. Work out schedules for athletes are intense and time consuming, and the emphasis on being fit and in shape may damage an athlete’s mental stability and self-esteem. The compulsive workouts may be a definite cause for guys since, “guys need to bulk up but girls need to slim down,” said DiMartino.
There are also many former high school athletes who don’t become involved in college sports and suffer just as much.
“Many students who are active in sports in high school become sedentary at [college], resulting in weight gain, frustration and low self- esteem, [which] can lead to disordered eating behaviors,” said Zippel.
Maintaining a positive self-image is not a problem that only girls have, but it is something that members of the opposite sex struggle with as well.
Jacob’s male student “didn’t feel good or fit enough,” a similar feeling that his female student had. Although not every athlete suffers from an eating disorder, it is possible that some struggle with the very high standards they have to maintain, which in turn damages the athletes’ mental, emotional and physical health.
Despite the dreaded ‘freshmen fifteen,’ it is seen that more and more college students, both male and female, are shedding the pounds in unhealthy ways. And even though information about the negative effects of eating disorders surrounds us in our everyday lives, college students still feel the need to binge, purge or starve. For those who are suffering and wish to seek help, they can seek support from a friend or family member. Students can also call Student Health Services for an appointment with the Registered Dietitian at 777-3175, or they can call USC Counseling and Human Development Center at 777-5223. As for those who are unfortunately continuing with the disorders, Lucy said “the entire experience messes up your gums, teeth, esophagus, hair, skin and heart. The effects are irreversible.”
*Name changed to protect identity
