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National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, or NEDAW, took place from February 26th until March 4th. As part of this important week, Words of Wellness this month is dedicated to spreading education about healthy and unhealthy eating habits, especially ones that may be aggravated in a college environment. Some of you may have known someone who lives with an eating disorder of some kind. According to National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “at least 30 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S.”
There is are common misconceptions about eating disorders: one is that eating disorders are only seen in women. Recent data shows this to be far from true, as people of all genders suffer from this affliction for various reasons. ANAD reports that “16% of transgender college students reported having an eating disorder.”
The second misconception is that eating disorders are always associated with food restriction, starvation, and binge/purging. However, there are various subsets of eating disorders — while some do include food restriction, there are also subsets that are categorized by over-exercising or even over-eating.
Emotional Distress and Anxiety can often aggravate symptoms of the latter, driving people to eat large amounts of food in a short period of time, feeling out of control of their actions in the process. Emotional Distress and Anxiety are issues faced frequently by many college students in Western Society, and it is important to discuss how to eat healthily through times of stress so as not to put more strain on the body and mind.
Eating disorders, in very broad terms, are characterized by an unhealthy relationship with food. With all the responsibilities of our academic, social, personal, and professional lives, college can be extremely chaotic. Developing and maintaining healthy relationship with food can help with energy, clarity, and focus in the midst of such responsibility.
Sometimes students get so busy they forget to eat, and sometimes students get so stressed that they binge eat out of anxiety. Both of these students exhibit habits involved in an unhealthy relationship with food. Meals should be regularly scheduled, nutritionally balanced, and eaten until satisfied. And of course, they should be enjoyed and cherished, as well.
So, Lake Forest, in honor of NEDAW, I prompt you to ask yourself, what is your relationship with food? What steps can you take in your life to maintain a balanced and healthy relationship to food?