Eating Disorders Awareness Week provided UCSD students and members of the community with the opportunity to learn about the warning signs and statistics of eating disorders from Feb. 23 to Feb. 27. The events were sponsored by the Women’s Peer Educator Program from Psychological and Counseling Services.
An expert panel held a public discussion on the issue of “”Keeping Healthy in an Image Obsessed World”” on Feb. 25. Speakers included psychologist Karla Materna, nutritionist and health educator Heather McCracken, and eating disorder survivor Eleanor Roosevelt College senior Megan Jones.
“”The majority of people have a negative body image,”” Materna said in her opening statements, explaining that a negative body image is a distorted perception of one’s shape.
In the United States, Materna said, studies indicate that after puberty, between 5 and 10 million girls and women and 1 million boys and men are struggling with eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and borderline conditions.
Materna also said that 42 percent of girls between the ages of six and nine want to be thinner and 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. Materna told the audience that the average American woman is five-feet-four-inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, while the average American model is five-feet-eleven-inches tall, weighs 117 pounds and represents 2 percent of the American female population.
“”I think it’s wonderful that people [came] here with their friends in mind to get ideas about how to help them,”” said Dana Sanders, an Eleanor Roosevelt College senior and member of the Women’s Peer Educator Program. “”Without [events] like this, people would be clueless about how to help others.””
Members of the panel also analyzed the effects of cultural norms that value people on the basis of physical appearance.
“”Media is one important factor in reflecting the ideal [image] and also helps construct the ideal [image] that men and women are to have,”” Materna said. “”We are bombarded with the images that we think we are supposed to look like.””
She said that research shows individuals are exposed to between 400 and 600 advertisements per day, and that 50 percent of ads aimed at teenage females focus on attractiveness.
“”I think it’s important to realize that these messages [from the media] are constructed for a reason,”” Materna said. “”They really do not reflect reality.””
McCracken advocated balance and variety in one’s food intake. She discussed the importance of planning meals in advance and drinking substantial fluids and advocated moderation, not deprivation.
Jones gave an account of her personal struggle with anorexia nervosa. Jones’ eating disorder began at age 13. She described herself as a perfectionist who would deny the seriousness of her low body weight when others would comment about it and had a strong fear of gaining weight. All these are signs of anorexia nervosa, she said.
Eleanor Roosevelt College senior Lisa Weiner explained that although she was Jones’ roommate, she did not realize the gravity of the situation.
“”It’s so easy to miss it,”” Weiner said. “”I didn’t know she had an eating disorder.””
Jones offered her advice as a survivor of an eating disorder.
“”Learning to ask for help is the most valuable lesson I have learned,”” she said.
Another event showcased in Eating Disorders Awareness Week was an art exhibit showing the perspective of a person with an eating disorder titled “”Room with a View”” in the Berkeley Room on Feb. 26. The exhibit contained artistic displays of ads of men and women, labeled with facts pointing out unrealistic aspects of the images.
“”[The exhibit] made me feel a lot better about myself, knowing that, if anything, I’m average,”” Eleanor Roosevelt College sophomore Emily Avenson said. “”The images that media portray are false and unrealistic, and people should stop trying to change themselves into something they are not meant to be.””
Eating Disorder Awareness Week also featured a charity drive for jean donations.
