Brown and White Vol. 108 No. 33

              the brown and white in 1894 vol 108 no 33 all the lehlgh news first 1 friday march 2,2001 women speak about their body images by renata gagnon news writer the women's center and delta sigma theta sorority co-sponsored a body pos itive talk tuesday in the university center as part of eating disorder awareness week marin bach founder of the sage center an organization that encourages women to feel good about their bodies led the discussion bach cited facts about the body image of women in the united states she said that one in five girls ages 12 to 19 is reported to have an eating disor der even though the average size for a woman is 14 bach encouraged the women in atten dance to share the issues they have with their own body image shavonne robinson 01 attended and shared her feelings about her body image as a black female our body image is very different from a white female's body image robinson said ui live for me i don't care about my shape michelle samuels assistant dean of students in the multicultural affairs office said she used to have a lot of body issues when she was in college especially as a member of the track team in college my body was up for dis cussion with coaches family and peers samuels said b&wphoto by ryanucwinko she said she would eat certain foods she thought were bad or fattening and then would exercise excessively to burn off the extra calories bach pulled out two magazine advertise ments one from today and one from 1891 the more recent advertisement pic tured pamela anderson in a tight dress a young man had his muscular arms around her waist bach asked the group how they felt about the advertisement many women said they felt it was selling a sexual image more specifically they said the ad was saying to get a man a woman must be of a certain height weight and breast size on the other hand the advertise ment from 1891 read get plump fat ten-u-foods the women in attendance comment ed how different the messages from each advertisement were and how much has changed in terms of body image in the last century bach also said that recently men have become increasingly more objecti fied in the media as well bach was a professional actor and dancer which she said put an enor mous amount of pressure and strain upon her and her body image bach said those experiences fueled her interest in women's body issues marin bach spoke to women tuesday in the uc about the importance of having a positive body image the event was part of eating disorder awareness week how to help a friend with an eating disorder by nora linscheid golden educates students about eating disorders advises on ways to help friends in need news writer walking on eggshells a brown bag lunch session that discussed the causes and treatments of various eating disorders was held monday in the university center the program was led by beth golden assistant director of counseling and psy chological services golden said the phrase walking on eggshells is having feelings of helpless ness fear anger and alienation when faced with a friend or relative who suffers from an eating disorder she spoke about the three different types of eating disorders which are anorexia bulimia and binge eating golden said a person with anorexia a form of self-starvation wants to move away from food signs of the disorder include strict dieting preoccupation with body size unusual food rituals and exces sive exercise if for three months a girl doesn't menstruate that is a sign that she may be severely malnourished golden said bulimia on the other hand involves moving toward food then feeling guilty and trying to get away from it afterward the core idea of bulimia is a process of binging and following it by some com pensatory behavior golden said characteristics of bulimia include purging excessive exerdse and taking laxative or diuretics trips to the bath room after meals frequent weight fluctu ation worries about becoming fat and tooth enamel deterioration binge eating while it involves moving toward food is not associated with purging or any other compensatory behavior golden said a person does not com pletely have to fit the criteria for an eating disorder to still be vulnerable it is best to confront the problem as early as possible she said kristin sargent 01 said she under stands that identifying an eating disorder will help stop the problem from getting out of control during my sophomore year i was unhappy to the point that i started exer cising way too much sargent said luckily i recognized the problem before it turned into an actual disorder golden suggested bringing at least one other person along when approaching a friend who has an eating disorder by yourself you lower the likelihood of getting through to the person but with a large group the person may feel ganged up on she said golden said die best way to help a friend would be to become educated about eating disorders if you have a friend who is con stantly dieting exercising skipping meals those should be signs to you golden said the person may not have an eating disorder but they may have disordered eating if that person expresses denial golden said friends should continue to approach that person about the situation be as specific as you can and tell them what you see golden said anything specific can help you break through the denial golden advised against lecturing don't force feed them push too hard or become the food patrol she said that will just cause them to become alienated and resentful golden also said to avoid comments about the weights of people with eating disorders because the initial weight loss gets them compliments which makes them want to continue she suggested commenting on their personality rather than their looks the person needs to feel appreciated for who she is rather than what she looks like golden said sargent said talking about eating disorders reassures people that they're not alone it also allows healthy people to 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