College, Food and Eating Disorders

The Freshman Fifteen is a problem many college students are worried about, but eating disorders and destructive relationships with food is a more serious issue.

College is bad for your health. Many students don’t get enough sleep or exercise, have way too much stress in their lives, and live in close quarters with hundreds of people and zillions of germs. But perhaps the most unhealthy experience of many college students is their relationship with food.

One common problem is the Freshman Fifteen. No, not all students will gain fifteen pounds their freshman year, but an awful lot of students do. Students leave their parents’ kitchen and suddenly are 100% responsible for their own food intake. For me, it was more tempting to indulge in two desserts than it was to drink!

But, you know, there are worse things you can do to your body and psyche than gain a few pounds. Thing is, at the same time that students are in a situation where weight gain is common, they experience increased pressure to stay thin. This is, of course, especially true for female students. There’s this media-fueled image of the “hot co-ed” that many young women want to live up to, and many feel an awful lot of pressure to impress the guys. Eating disorders are rampant on college campuses, especially bulimia, which tends to make its onset in college-aged women (while anorexia more commonly makes its onset in high school and middle school students).

Because I teach classes about gender and media images, many of my students have approached me to discuss their eating disorders and their poor relationships with food. I’ve heard such awful stories. One of the saddest things female students have told me is how they feel uncomfortable eating around both male and female students, as if eating were an unnatural and unfeminine thing to do. A student told me she got dirty looks from her friends when she brought a hamburger to the lunch table, because they just ate salads. How warped is that?

Yes, it’s a good idea to develop healthy eating habits and avoid the Freshman Fifteen. But food is a necessary and enjoyable part of human experience, so don’t focus too much on what you eat. You’re in college to get an education and to learn something about yourself, not to be a runway model. This should be a time for young women to reach their potential and develop self-confidence, regardless of their dress size.

Oh, and if you or someone you know has an eating disorder, please contact your school’s health center or counseling center immediately. This is a medical emergency, and it happens to be a common one that many schools are well equipped to handle.