The overlooked phenomenon of disordered eating is a growing problem for college students nationwide, who typically focus on more severe disorders such as bulimia or anorexia.
Disordered eating is the large umbrella of unusual and unhealthy eating habits that do not necessarily fall under a textbook definition of a disorder, and University health and counseling personnel say students on Grounds are even more heavily impacted than the average college student.
Nearly all students experience symptoms, but the number of people who actually recognize their habits as harmful and come forward for help is small, said Alison Beaver, assistant director of Health Promotion at Student Health.
A certain amount of shame also is associated with eating disorders, so people are often more reluctant to address their unhealthy habits, said Emily Lape, eating disorder specialist at University Center for Counseling and Psychological Services. Because students often fail to address their unhealthy eating habits and because of the inability to define the varying degrees and variety of symptoms, exact numbers and specific demographics of those most affected are hard to come by.
U.Va. C.A.R.E.S., a group of students, faculty and staff working to prevent eating disorders and disordered eating on Grounds, currently is trying to compile data on this subject.
One thing experts at the University do acknowledge is a recent shift in the demographics of those who are affected by disordered eating. While it used to primarily affect middle-class white females, a growing numbers of blacks, Asian Americans and men are developing unhealthy habits.
"In a sense, we could all say that everyone has disordered eating," Beaver said.
Examples of disordered eating include crash diets before Spring Break, obsessions with calorie counting and binging one day while purging the next.
A common myth is that someone either does or does not have an eating disorder. The reality is that disordered eating might not be a continuous behavior, but can come and go, Beaver said.
"One day you can have it, and one day you might not," she said.
The two main causes of disordered eating are emotional voids and the pressure to have a "Hollywood figure," health officials said. Emotional eating is a common way to cope with problems in other areas of one's life. It can be manifested in excessive overeating or an obsession with exercise and under-eating.
The often discussed "Freshman 15" immediately pushes the question of weight to the forefront of students' minds, especially for female college students.
"I think it's the accessibility of food," Beaver said. She said with the all-you-can-eat setup at mealtime, students find it hard to resist another serving. In addition, the long waking hours of college students do not cater to the standard three meals a day that most adults enjoy.
Late nights of cramming, video game marathons and gossip sessions also make snacking "a social thing," Beaver said.
Initial weight gain can be an impetus for a continuum of four years of disordered eating.
"People with eating disorders start out with a sense that they're on a healthy diet, but they become obsessive and over-driven," Lape said.
Lape added that soon the line between a healthy shift in eating habits and a disordered view toward food becomes blurred.
Rough numbers for students with clinical eating disorders at the University show that a higher percentage of University students are affected than the national average, Lape said.
"People here are perfectionists," she said of the University's active, driven students. "Students at all the top-tier schools are, really. This is a pretty appearance conscious place."
Read More
U.Va. students and physicians team up for another year of free kidney screenings
By Merrill Hart | November 5, 2024Saturday’s screening marked the first by KDSAP at Portico Church, near IX Art Park.
U.Va. Health sees a spike in COVID-19 cases
By Emily Horn | September 4, 2023U.Va. Health ended their vaccination requirements in August, and masks were made optional in most hospital areas in early April.
U.Va. Cancer Center harnesses $12 million grant to support opportunities for undergraduates, ongoing research and new center
By Ellen Wu | January 12, 2023The grant provides an opportunity to establish the Center for Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles, which seeks to find the cause of cancer in individual organelles.
