Wednesday, 5/28/97 Weighting for ‘perfection’ Nearly a tenth of
U.S. women suffer from an eating disorder, according to some
estimates. Reasons include pressure to be thin and stress from
family problems.
By Judy Cha Daily Bruin Contributor In a ritzy college town such
as Westwood, it is not uncommon for Hollywood supermodels to uphold
the standard for beauty. Many college students become anorexic or
bulimic to fit the thin, attractive mold without realizing that
they are committing a slow suicide. Approximately 1 percent to 3
percent of women in the United States are anorexic, while 3 percent
to 5 percent suffer from bulimia, according to Traci Mann, a UCLA
psychologist who has done research on eating disorders. Although
these numbers seem small, they only represent those individuals who
qualify for the full diagnosis. While eating disorders are more
common in women, men suffer from them as well, representing less
than 1 percent of all cases. "Eating disorders have existed
throughout history, but there are most certainly more now," Mann
said. But it is about more than just being thin and beautiful. A
second-year communications student at a Los Angeles-area college
who wishes to remain anonymous said family problems were what put
her under unbearable stress and turned her toward anorexia because
she felt a need to gain control of her life. "I felt like I was
failing in some aspects of my life, so I was trying to succeed in
other aspects," she said. When an individual has self-directed
anger, feeling good is being able to control one’s food and one’s
weight, according to Laima Wesson, a dietitian at UCLA. "I thought
I was being healthy when I would go out to eat with my friends at a
Chinese restaurant and just get a bowl of rice," said the
second-year student. She remembers trying to fight off hunger
pangs, thinking that they would eventually go away. "You’re
supposed to respond to hunger," Wesson said. "Our appetites are
designed to maintain our normal healthy body weight." When the
second-year student tried to be discreet by ordering small portions
of food in restaurants, her actions did not always escape the
notice of her parents. Although her mother knew there was a
problem, the student thinks that it might have been embarrassing
for her parents to admit that she was suffering from an eating
disorder. "Eating disorders are a shame-based thing," Wesson said.
The effect of eating meals which consisted of fruit, celery,
carrots and cereal showed in the student’s thin body. "I started
wearing baggy clothes to hide it," she said. However, loose
clothing did not make the pain go away. "I felt a lot of physical
pain when I (lay) down because there was too much pressure on my
rib cage," she said. Not eating enough shuts down metabolism,
according to Wesson. An individual needs to respect their body’s
minimal calorie needs to increase muscle mass. The second-year
student admits to performing eating rituals such as writing down
everything she ate and going out for frozen yogurt every day for
two months. "Frozen yogurt was something that would fill me up a
little bit," she said, "something that I thought was not fattening
and OK to have." In a fast-paced culture where people are less
likely to prepare their own food, it’s easy to reject prepackaged
food because people don’t know where it came from, according to
Wesson. "Food is taken to be a reflection of your moral status,"
Wesson said. "If you eat chocolate, you’re a bad person." While
social events and food go hand-in-hand, the second-year student
would try to avoid functions in which food was present. "If I knew
I was going to go somewhere and food was going to be there, it
would be sort of uncomfortable," she said. Wesson explained that
individuals suffering from eating disorders must change their own
mindset to begin improving. It wasn’t until the student could no
longer endure the physical pain on her body that she decided to eat
more regularly. While she stayed with a friend in New York – out of
the confines of her family – the stress-free environment helped her
to overcome her fear of food. "I started eating and became much
happier," she said. According to Wesson, individuals must shift
their attitude for improvement to occur. Although having control
over what she ate gave her some comfort, the second-year student
said that anorexia was an indirect way of solving her problems.
"Physically, you’re just deteriorating inside," she said. She
admits she "fell into it" because her friends were so
health-conscious. "I was trying to reach out for help, but I didn’t
know how," she said. Wesson explains that her role as a dietitian
is to provide a safe, nonjudgmental environment for students to
discuss their food fears. "After students see me for the first
time, they feel an incredible sense of relief," Wesson said.
Although the student feels that she has recovered somewhat from
anorexia, the thought of falling into that trap again haunts her.
"People do recover, although it’s a lifelong struggle," Mann said.
Treatment is multidisciplinary, Wesson said. It includes
psychological counseling, nutritional guidance and medical
examinations. "The first step to recovery is realizing that you
have a problem," the second-year student said. There are ways to
tell whether or not an individual is suffering from an eating
disorder, according to Mann. Students who fast for nonreligious
reasons, who have lost more than 15 percent of their body weight,
and whose views of themselves are based on their weight might
consider looking for help. Students can seek counseling through
Student Psychological Services, through women’s health services, or
by discussing their problems with a dietitian such as Wesson. After
overcoming a life-threatening ordeal, the student feels that she
now knows to alleviate her frustrations immediately by talking
about them. "If something bothers me I’ll deal with it right away,"
she said. Previous Daily Bruin story: When you want to say ‘eat
more’