Do you engage in dieting behaviors, feel extremely guilty after eating or avoid eating when you are hungry?
These questions and more are posed to students each year in a confidential assessment for Eating Disorder Screening Day, which was hosted by the Counseling and Testing Center Feb. 18. As part of an annual awareness week on campus, this event and others provided information and resources about eating disorders, early detection and treatment options.
This year at the University of Idaho, Body Positive Week focused on eating disorder prevention and strategies for developing a positive body image. As the National Eating Disorder Association states, “people with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem and obsessions with weight loss.”
Marissa Rudley
Campus Dietician
It can seem daunting or counter-cultural to value a balanced approach to health and well-being. One major mindset change can be body acceptance. Your body deserves to be treated with respect and admiration, no matter your current size or shape.
Remember, there is no place for fat talk, body shaming or body checking. By accepting yourself and all your perceived imperfections, you can empower yourself and others to move toward a balanced lifestyle.
Every day I work with students to promote eating in a nourishing and flexible way. Through nutrition counseling appointments, I see a wide variety of nutrition concerns. Somewhere along the path to a healthy lifestyle, eating attitudes and behaviors can become rigid, or even dangerously extreme.
Sometimes concern for health can turn into disordered eating. In disordered eating, what may begin as an intention to eat healthier and be more physically active can develop into disruptive thoughts and behaviors toward food, body image and weight. These obsessive thoughts about food, body image, weight or exercise can even begin as a way to cope with the stress of college, but can eventually become all-consuming and isolating.
It is important to understand that while eating disorders may involve issues around food and weight, they are complex mental illnesses that require coordinated care from a counselor or psychiatrist, as well as a physician and dietitian. The key to minimizing the physical and mental health risks of eating disorders is early treatment.
If you or someone you care about is looking for resources and support on campus, contact the Counseling and Testing Center at (208) 885-6716 and the campus dietitian for nutrition counseling at [email protected].
For more information on the resources for eating disorders, contact the Counseling and Testing Center at (208) 885-6716 or email the campus dietician at [email protected]. To take a quick and confidential online eating disorder screening, visit screening.mentalhealthscreening.org/NEDA.
Marissa Rudley is the UI campus dietician. She can be reached at [email protected]