Eating disorders strike people at any age

Nearly 17 percent of VCU students have experienced eating problems or eating disorders, according to a 2004 study. These findings were released last month to members of the student Activities Programming Board that organized the April 13 Beachwear Contest, a competition that some suggested might incite negative body image.

An American College Health Association National College Health Assessment survey of about 1,000 VCU students showed that 3.2 percent of them had been diagnosed with anorexia at some point in their lives. The survey also indicated that 4.6 percent of students had been diagnosed with bulimia and 9 percent reported they had experienced some sort of eating problem.

Katherine Vatalaro Hill, health educator in the Office of Health Promotion, said more students may suffer from eating disorders than the study indicated because the assessment did not survey students about their compulsive or binge eating habits.

Kelli Lemon, assistant director of student programs and events, said when the APB approached her with the idea of organizing a swimsuit auction she considered the activity as a positive one that would be fun for college students.

The swimsuit auction, however, raised a red flag for some staff members, including Vatalaro Hill, whose office conducted the annual survey. She worried that the contest might encourage unhealthy body imagery and that contestants might crash-diet or overexercise to prepare for the contest.

“It focuses people on a certain body type,” Vatalaro Hill said. “I thought the participants might engage in unhealthy behavior in order to slim down for one event. The students who weren’t going to participate might feel disappointed or depressed about not having that perfect body to participate in that contest.”

Lemon, on the other hand, said organization members, wanted to dispel common misconceptions people have of such beauty contests. People have a misconception that contestants must be tall, skinny or have a certain body type to participate, she said, but the APB’s one welcomed contestants of all shapes and sizes.

Diedre Simon, junior marketing major, said while she supports swimsuit contests that represent all body types, many still represent only slender women.

“When you hear swimsuit contest you think of Pamela Anderson. You don’t think of Jill Scott in a bathing suit,” she said, referring to the plus-sized Rhythm & Blues singer.

Nonetheless, Lemon acknowledged that others could have misconstrued the contest’s aim because the swimsuit contest’s marketing material – most noticeably the posters of a bikini-clad crab – did not reflect the competition’s inclusiveness.

Vatalaro Hill explained that a larger incidence of eating disorders typically occurs in college-age populations because college marks a period of adjustment for young people. As a result, she said, students seeking ways to cope with the stressful separation from family and friends sometimes turn to unhealthy controlled eating habits.

“Eating disorders are a coping mechanism,” she said. ” It’s a way for individuals to deal with stress.”

For Jessica Yu, first-year interior design major, the stress of college plus heavy courseloads could cause students to skip meals routinely. Social pressures, such as wanting to belong to a group, dance team or cheerleading squad, she said, also could facilitate eating disorders in college-aged women.

“You have to wear clothes that may show your stomach. They want to look like everyone else on the team,” Yu said

Elena Schexnider, sophomore French major, recalled her battle with anorexia while a middle school student. She attributed her eating disorder to low self-esteem and her tendency to compare herself with others.

“I didn’t eat because I wanted to be like all the white girls. All the white girls were so thin and the guys liked that,” she said. “I think it was a reflection of my self-esteem.”

Moreover, Schexnider said she believes eating disorders among young women already are prevalent on campus, and swimsuit competitions conventionally endorse one body ideal – skinny.

“That perpetuates women showing off their body parts, and it perpetuates eating disorders. You’re not going to see a size 10, 12 or 16 up there,” she said.

Rosalie Dech, sophomore international studies major, agreed with Schexnider’s viewpoint about young women still facing pressure to look a certain way because physical appearance and popularity go hand in hand.

“I definitely think there’s a huge pressure to fit in and look a certain way,” said Dech, adding that she still would enter in a swimsuit contest for fun.

Vatalaro-Hill and Lemon blamed unrealistic body images shown in the media as negatively influencing young men and women.

“With spring break and the stuff you see on TV,” Lemon said, “people are trying hard to look a lot smaller.”

Vatalaro-Hill also suggested that students not buy into the air brushed images they see in magazines.

A March meeting between the APB and health promotion office addressed the unhealthy eating habits on campus and led to changes in the competition’s marketing.

Lemon said APB changed the competition’s name from Swimsuit Auction to Beachwear Contest to appeal to a wider audience and added other categories so the judging did not focus exclusively on body type.

“We wanted people to realize that they weren’t going to be judged solely on their body,” Lemon said. Instead, the event also assessed contestants’ styles, sophistication, personality and how they accessorized their outfit.

Simon called eating disorders seasonal, whereby people tend to gain weight in the winter and flock to the gym when the weather warms. Although swimsuit contests rub many people the wrong way, Simon said they can have positive outcomes, too.

“It encourages people who are overweight to work out and set goals,” Simon said.

Vatalaro Hill also suggested that the university’s diverse student population insulates students from negative body images because they see so many.

“A great anecdote to body image problems is to see what real people look like,” she said.

Dech said she also noticed the differences in body types at VCU and in her hometown, Washington, D.C.

“People from D.C. are very health-conscious and people at VCU look healthier.”

For Lemon, being healthy has much to do with self-confidence and respect because so many peoples’ perceptions of positive body types exist. Therefore, she said it is difficult to identify one single healthy body type.

Vatalaro Hill urges students who want to help friends with eating disorders to use “care-frontation,” not confrontation. People with eating disorders, she said, may have denial or become defensive. Thus, it is important for friends to tell them how much they care and then offer concrete evidence.

Students seeking treatment for eating problems can visit the health promotion office for nutritional advice, The University Counseling Center for therapy and the Student Health Office for medical and heart tests.