News You Can Use
Don't let 'image-conscious' morph into 'thin-obsessed'
University Relations
News Bureau (662) 325-3442
Contact: Susan Hughes
May 31, 2006
STARKVILLE, Miss.-With summer comes longer days, warmer weather and swimsuit season. If the mention of swimsuits makes you cringe, don't feel alone.
Many people donning swimwear launch into dieting to ease their body-image concerns. Unfortunately, some will fail to keep the diet under control and develop eating disorders.
"Not everyone on a diet will develop an eating disorder, but everyone who develops an eating disorder started out on a diet," explains Jennifer Fuller, a health educator at Mississippi State University's Longest Student Health Center.
One all-too-common misconception is that eating disorders only affect young females, she adds. In fact, both men and women of all ages can suffer from a preoccupation with weight-a preoccupation often stemming from low self-esteem or a poor self-image.
Fuller says a person at-risk for developing an eating disorder may exhibit several observable behaviors. They include:
- Constantly discussing dieting, calories, fat grams, or food in general;
- Beginning to exercise because they "have to"; and
- Frequently making trips to the bathroom immediately after meals.
"About a third of dieters will become pathological dieters," Fuller says. "Society's obsession with weight sets up an atmosphere where people are always talking about and thinking about it."
To help influence a "thin-obsessed" family member or friend, she recommends working to create an interpersonal environment where body size and weight are not important, avoiding such comments as "You look good. Have you lost weight?" and concentrating on the person's attributes that are not physical.
Also, when broaching the subject of a possible eating disorder, don't be confrontational, Fuller says. "It is the victim's choice to get help and you can't make them change."
For more information, visit www.NationalEatingDisorders.org.