Eating disorders are one of the most serious health concerns on college campuses.
I've been teaching college for a long time, and students have sometimes come to talk to me about serious problems. By far, the most common problem students have approached me about are eating disorders.
Anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders represent a crisis on college campuses. Educators, parents, and students need to know more about this issue. In the last few decades, we've become more aware of other problems on college campuses, such as excessive alcohol consumption and sexual violence. Eating disorders needs to be right up there as a major college health concern.
The pressure that young women feel to be thin can be magnified on college campuses. Young women have told me that they feel pressure not to eat too much around their fellow students. And no, they weren't just talking about male students-- they were talking about other girls, who give them dirty looks if they choose a cheeseburger over a salad. Students with eating disorders have told me how difficult it is for them to eat with their friends because everyone is always talking about their weight as they eat. On top of all this, there's this ridiculous pressure on young women to conform to this Girls Gone Wild image of the of the hot college girl who most certainly is not valued by how hard she works in her physics class.
If you or someone you care about has an eating disorder, or if you would like more information about this college health epidemic, read this interview on College Students and Eating Disorders with Lori Henry, the Feature Writer for the Eating Disorders section of Suite101.com.
