To raise awareness of and dispel myths about eating disorders, Body Related Issues Discussion Groups, Education and Support held its first body image symposium Saturday in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Speakers at the symposium described how eating disorders are a legitimate psychological disease and how they are a much more serious problem than people think. They also explained eating disorders are not a disease for “rich white girls” but that they affect everyone of all sexes, races, shapes and sizes. The symposium ended with a student-made movie and a raffle, which involved the distribution of Syracuse paraphernalia.

The symposium was set up in different rooms throughout Newhouse and focused on all different types of topics related to eating disorders. Each session was structured as a discussion with a Q-and-A component.

The sessions ranged from “Big Fat Lies,” a session about media influence on self-image, to “Keeping it Healthy: Positive Exercise Habits for Life,” which offered tips about how to remain active every day.

“I thought it was good. It’s nice to have the myths and facts. This whole thing was really good for awareness,” said Jackie Tillman, a student in the Dietetic Internship Program.

The point of the symposium was to get people talking about and understanding what it is like to have an eating disorder, said Harriet Brown, an assistant professor of magazine journalism and a co-adviser for BRIDGES. She also said she hoped to help create a different idea of what it means to be thin in this country.

Approximately 4 to 5 percent of all college-age women have some sort of eating disorder, according to statistics presented in the “Myths & Fact About Eating Disorders” session of the symposium. Brown believes that, at SU and around the country, there are few people who acknowledge this statistic and spread awareness of eating disorders, she said.

“They talk about alcohol problems and drugs, but it’s rare to have a conversation about eating disorders,” Brown said.

Brown said BRIDGES started in 2006, and its purpose is to publicize the issues of eating disorders on campus in an organized fashion.

The symposium has been in the works since the group’s inception in 2006, but did not happen until Saturday because the group was not able to organize it until then, Brown said.

Brown said she would like to make the symposium an annual event based on the high turnout and participation of approximately 100 people.

 

Published on March 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm