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Eating
Disorder Awareness Week Events on Campus
 Mind and Body Awareness Week
Outreach Booth
Tuesday, October 25, Wednesday October 26
10am-2 pm Upper Sproul
Outreach booth provides the campus community with information
and resources on eating disorders and positive body image.Various fact sheets, resource lists, and brochures will be
made available. UHS staff and health care professionals will
be available to answer questions and provide support.
FOOD
and FEELINGS
Open
to students with all types of eating concerns.
Check back for details on Spring 2012 meeting dates and sign up information.
More details here.
What
is an Eating Disorder?
Eating
is one of the most basic human behaviors, but it is controlled
by a multitude of factors, including: appetite and biological
mechanisms related to hunger and satiety; the amount and types
of foods available; family, peer-group, and cultural norms;
social pressures and media images; exercise and fitness; and
emotional/psychological difficulties. Many people have healthy
eating patterns and are not excessively concerned with food,
exercise, or weight, while others' food- and body-related
attitudes and behaviors are very unhealthy (i.e., extreme
calorie restriction, frequent binge-eating, compulsive exercise,
distorted body image) and significantly interfere with their
daily lives.
When present
at a certain level of severity and for a certain amount of
time, these symptoms can meet criteria for the diagnosis of
an eating disorder. Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by self-starvation
and very low body weight. Bulimia Nervosa is characterized
by the cycle of binge eating followed by compensatory behavior
(i.e., vomiting, excessive exercise, laxative use). Binge
Eating Disorder involves compulsive overeating without compensatory
behaviors. Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (ED-NOS)
includes some combination of symptoms of anorexia, bulimia,
and/or binge-eating disorder.
In the
United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million
males have anorexia or bulimia and approximately 18 million
females and six million males have binge eating disorder (Crowther
et al., 1992; Fairburn et al., 1993; Gordon, 1990; Hoek, 1995;
Shisslak et al., 1995). Eating disorders occur among people
of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations,
and socioeconomic groups, and they are not solely about food
and weight. Eating disorders are serious illnesses that arise
from a complex combination of psychological, social, and biological
factors and have potentially devastating complications. However,
there are many treatment resources that can help people with
eating disorders to recover (see below), including those at
UHS.
The
Pursuit of Happiness
Millions of people are affected by eating disorders, either
personally or because someone they love is battling the disease.
Four out of ten Americans either suffered or have known someone
who has suffered from an eating disorder (National Eating
Disorders Association, 2005).
Eating
disorders may seem like it is all about food and weight, however,
they are most often much more than food. Eating disorders
involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme
and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating,
as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body
shape or weight. Eating disorders are illnesses, NOT choices.
Influences
such as the current fashion trends, fear of obesity, possible
biological factors, and the illusion that being thinner may
lead to being happier may lead to long term medical and emotional
complications. Media messages screaming "thin is in"
may not directly cause eating disorders; however, the media's
power over the development of self-esteem and body image can
be incredibly influential.
Effects
of poor eating may include: preoccupation with food and body,
weight fluctuation, decreased concentration, poor judgment,
social withdrawal, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances,
decreased basal metabolic rate, and apathy.
The Minority Majority
Eating disorders were once known as the "Golden Girl
Syndrome" because it primarily occurred in middle to
upper class, well-educated Caucasian women. However, eating
disorders have spread to people of both sexes and all socioeconomic
and ethnic backgrounds. Anorexia Nervosa has even surfaced
in countries where hunger remains a problem.
Although
UC Berkeley has almost 40% of undergraduate students that
are Asian or Asian American, 48% of the 230 students who received
treatment by the UHS Eating Disorder Treatment Team last year
were Caucasian, 17% Asian/Asian American, 9% Chicano/Latino,
and only 2% African American. Many studies suggest that eating
disorders do not discriminate against race, culture, socioeconomic
status, sex, sexual orientation or other factors. For a variety
of potential reasons that include assess to care and cultural
attitudes toward psychological treatment, minorities are less
likely to seek help therefore there is misrepresentation and
focus on the prevalence, type and severity of eating disorders
within all minority populations.
Males
with Eating Disorders
Eating disorders among males are more prevalent than most
people would suspect. Close to two million American males
may suffer from eating disorders and hundreds of thousands
more without a diagnosable eating disorder exhibit obsessions
with food, weight, appearance, and/or exercise.
Despite growing awareness over the past decade that males
are affected by eating disorders, the issue of males and eating
disorders still receives little attention, and far too many
males with eating disorders go undiagnosed and untreated.
Helpful
Handouts
Do
you have concerns about the effects of chronic dieting, exercise
obsession, body image and acceptance?
The Tang Center offers a non-judgmental, confidential place
for emotional support on your journey to healthy eating. Facilitated
by a Registered Dietitian and Clinical Social Worker experienced
with disordered eating behaviors, sessions will focus on group
exercises to distinguish physical vs. emotional eating, challenge
distorted thoughts around food and body, and improve nutritional
knowledge for optimal health.
Food
and Feelings:
An
educational support group for students with eating
issues
Open
to students with all types of eating concerns.
Check back for details on Spring 2012 meeting dates and sign up information.
(View
the Food and Feelings flyer for Fall 2011 PDF)
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