I’m willing to bet that you don’t notice them, but they’re there. Or maybe you do see it—the girls who push the food around on their plates in Hewitt or John Jay, the girls who disappear quietly after each meal only to return with reddened index fingers, the girls who push themselves to extremes on the treadmill just because they feel they have to, or the girls who can recite the calorie counts in every ounce that is placed in front of them. Do you relate to their struggle? Do you, too, know someone like that?
In a culture where stereotypes of beauty and perfection abound, it is hard not to be affected by low self-esteem and poor body image. Today, it is the norm rather than the aberration. Statistics show that one in four college women has binged and purged in the name of weight control. Many more are engaged in starvation wars with their bodies. We live in a world where young girls are more afraid of gaining weight than they are of nuclear war, getting cancer, or losing their parents, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.
The problem isn’t that we’re obsessed with weight, though that is obviously a concern. The problem is that people are dying because of this obsession. Eating disorders are diseases with complicated bio-psycho-social causes. Though it might be easy to blame it all on the media or over-bearing parents, these are very rarely (and maybe never) the sole causes. Treatment for an eating disorder is time-consuming, painful and expensive. But there is no alternative. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness and they consistently rank near the top for the leading cause of death among young women.
Perhaps the saddest—and also most hopeful—aspect of all of this is that eating disorders can be prevented and successfully treated. I lost my high school years to this illness, but now I have recovered and reclaimed my life—fully and completely recovered. This is what is possible. I am living proof.
It is for this reason that we push, on this National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, for community outreach, for education, and for intervention.
Did you know that the Barnard and Columbia counseling centers have support groups for people who are dealing with poor body image? Did you know that there are referral services on campus that can help you find the right type of doctor? Did you know that health services has people who are trained to monitor the progression of eating disorders and recovery from them? Probably not, but now you do.
College life can isolate us if we aren’t careful. The stress of living away from home, of dealing with harder classes, of eating on a meal plan, can all chip away at a person’s sense of health. It may seem easier to skip lunch than to rearrange your schedule. You may not like the dining hall food. And for some, these stresses, combined with the lack of parental supervision, are a deadly combination.
The good news is that there is hope. Prevention and recovery are possible. It is a reality to believe that, one day, you can feel good about your body. It might be the struggle of your life, but it is so worth it. Avail yourself of the services that are offered on this campus. Stand up for your right to feel good. There are people here who can help you. There are people here who know how to help if you suspect a friend has a problem. You just have to use your voice—and it might sound scary at first, but you’ll be thankful you did it in the end. We hold Eating Disorders Awareness Week to empower you to speak up, to tell us your truth, and to claim (or reclaim) your self-worth. Too many people waste talent and energy dealing with these very serious illnesses. Put your brain to better use. Fight back—join us as part of the solution. This week, take stock of the way you look at your body, notice how you think about food. Now, quiet your inner self-critics—put them on the shelf for the next week at least—and join us in the revolution.
The author is a Barnard alumna and author of Unwell. She is co-founder of Students for Ending Eating Disorders.
