Body Appreciation Week Gives New Insights
By: Lauren Reilly
Dickinsonian Staff Writer

From Feb. 25 to 27, the Clarke Center, the Zatae Longsdorff Center for Women, Counseling and Disability Services, Health Services, the Women's Studies Department, and the Health Education Committee sponsored a college-wide celebration of Body Appreciation Week.

The three-day celebration consisted of three different presentations and was open to the campus and community alike. The presentations included a panel discussion about eating; a speech presented by Margo Maine, Ph. D., Director of the Eating Disorder Program at the Institute of Living; and a session on nutrition and yoga presented by Deb Gochenour, R.D., and Brenda Clements, a physical educator at Dickinson.

Monday night, Feb. 25, the first session, "Eating: A Panel Discussion" was presented in the Great Room of the Stern Center. Dr. Linda Chalk, Ph. D., Assistant Director of the Counseling Center at Dickinson, moderated the panel. Panelists included a Dickinson graduate, a Dickinson professor, a medical doctor, and an eating disorders therapist.

Shelley Schwarz Bosak, '88, returned to Dickinson to speak to students about her encounters with anorexia, bulimia and alcoholism. She is a 15-year victim of eating disorders and has been in recovery for the last five years.

Professor Amy Farrell, Ph. D., is the coordinator of Women's Studies and an Associate Professor of American Studies. She is currently working on a book titled "Fat Politics: Dieting, Fat Denigration, and Fat Activitism." She shared her current work on dieting and her previous work on feminist periodicals.

Another panelist, Dr. Richard Levine, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and the Director of Adolescent Medicine at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, PA. His clinical and research interests are based on adolescent medicine, including the medical management of eating disorders.

Susan McGraw, ACSW, is an eating disorders therapist at Franco Psychological Associates in Carlisle. She works with adolescent and adult clients and takes a holistic approach to psychotherapy, offering both brief and in-depth treatment options.

Many issues were addressed at this session, including why eating disorders are common on college campuses, how they are treated, and what the warning signs are.

Eating disorders are common on college campuses for a number of reasons. These reasons include the fact that college is a time of transition, the fact that many students are participating in sports that promote or perpetuate eating disorders, and the heavy influence of the advertising industry.

The prime age for Bulimia tends to be college age students, 18-20. Anorexia usually surfaces around age 13-15, but 18-20 is the next highest age group in prevalence. College is a breeding ground for eating disorders because of the pressure placed upon students to do well, and many eating disordered people are perfectionists.

The people most affected by eating disorders are stereotypically teenage, Caucasian, upper middle class females. There obviously are people outside of this stereotype who suffer from eating disorders, but this is the group predominantly affected.

There are many ways to treat eating disorders; medication may be helpful in preventing relapse but is not a cure. Prozac has been shown to help with Bulimia in limiting the binge/purge cycle but again, it is a tool and not a cure. The most effective treatment for an eating disorder is a treatment team of a medical doctor, psychotherapist, and nutritionist. People who work with a nutritionist have the highest correlation to successful recovery.

Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa have very severe side effects and can become fatal. These disorders can affect every organ in the body, and while some of these effects are reversible with proper treatment, others are not.

Visible signs that someone is suffering from an eating disorder vary. With Bulimia, there may be swelling of the fingers and face and cuts on the fingers. It is sometimes more difficult to determine if someone suffering from Bulimia has an eating disorder; the weight loss is not as significant since the person still is absorbing some nutrients and calories. With anorexia, however, the person usually begins to appear emaciated and there may be hair loss and the development of a fine, downy hair all over their bodies.

More severe and less recognizable consequences, however, may include: growth retardation, osteopenia or osteoporosis, abnormalities in metabolism, fluid, and electrolytes, cardiovascular abnormalities, and gastrointestinal abnormalities. There may also be parotid gland swelling, bone marrow abnormalities, anemia, neurological consequences, and amenorrhea.

These are just a few of the negative effects on the body resulting from malnutrition and starvation. Many people, when engaging in these practices, do not understand the extent to which they are damaging their bodies.

The second session presented during Body Appreciation Week, on Tuesday, Feb. 26, was a lecture given by Dr. Margo Maine, a clinical psychologist and author of many books regarding eating disorders. Her speech was incredibly interesting and she talked about where and why eating disorders originate.

She began her speech by talking about gymnast Kristi Heinrich, who died in the 1980s from complications of Anorexia Nervosa. She then spoke about three NCAA wrestlers who all died within a six-week period trying to cut weight too quickly.

She then addressed the idea that fat is not a feeling. Oftentimes, people translate every negative and uncomfortable feeling they have into "fat," but fat is not a feeling. She also spoke about ho managed care does not like eating disorders and it costs approximately $100,000 to $250,000, out-of-pocket, to treat an eating disorder. It takes a lot of time and suffering in order to get better, but it is possible.

Dr. Maine spoke about Twiggy, a model from England who came to the United States in the 1960's and redefined the fashion industry. Twiggy had a very boyish figure at 5'6" and 91 pounds. She weighed 70% of her ideal body weight, but there has never been any proof that she suffered from an eating disorder. Twiggy had a body like a coat hanger and this solved a problem for fashion designers who had for years been making clothes that looked great on paper and hangers but not on people.

Another icon that Dr. Maine discussed was Barbie. Barbie, she said, "is not a great introduction to the world of women," nor is she "a healthy doll." Barbie began as a display to sell cigars to men in Europe, and Mattel decided to make this figure into a doll that most little girls now have by the time they are three years old.

Barbie's dimensions, if she were a real person, would be 39:18:33. She would be 5'9" tall and weigh 110 pounds. She would be 76% of her ideal body weight, and the criteria for anorexia is to weight 85% of ideal body weight. Barbie is anorexic. Just to compare, an average size 10 from LL Bean fits dimensions 36:28 :38, and the average American woman is a size 14.

The advertising industry has also contributed greatly to the development of eating disorders. Dr. Maine showed slides of various magazine articles, and there were many disturbing images, including a DKNY ad featuring two girls in one skirt, an ad for Guess Jeans where the girl wasn't even wearing jeans, and naked Calvin Klein models. Weight was incorporated into ads for many things including diamonds, coffee, milk, pocketbooks, and even fishing line.

Eating disorders have become normalized in our society. There was an ad from a restaurant in New York that was actually printed in a magazine, which read: "Supermodels love our pasta, it comes up as easily as it goes down."

Dr. Maine brought up a wonderful point when she said, "We can get people to buy things without raping women's bodies and self-esteem." Another significant fact she pointed out is that there are 8 women in this world who look like supermodels, and 3 billion who do not. A quote she put on the projector at the end of the speech, which summed up a lot of what she had to say, read: "If you talked to your friends the way you talked to your body, you would have no friends left" (Marcia Hutchinson). Now there's some food for thought.

The final evening of Body Appreciation Week consisted of a program called "Doing a Body Good: Nutrition and Yoga." Deb Gochenour, M.Ed., R.D., a nutrition educator and counselor at Pinnacle Health System gave a speech about nutrition. She spoke about how eating healthily can help to deal with stress. She addressed the fact that when one skips a meal, they pay for it later in many ways, including lack of energy and overeating later.

She said that people should eat at least every five hours throughout the day, but that more often is better. She suggested eating when one begins to get hungry so as to avoid overeating later.

It was noted that it's a good idea to keep healthy snacks such as bagels, fruit, and vegetables handy at all times so as to avoid running to the vending machine or fast food chains. She suggested that college students keep their rooms well stocked with healthy things such as crackers, soups, and cereal so as to avoid calling for pizza at all hours of the night.

The best way to eat is to follow the food guide pyramid and to follow a healthy plan that includes foods with 30% or less of calories from fat. People should also have saturated fat be less than 1/3 of their fat intake, consume less than 5 grams of sodium per serving, eat at least three grams of fiber per serving and a total of 100% of vitamins and minerals.

Brenda Clements, a physical educator at Dickinson College followed the nutrition presentation with a presentation on yoga. She began by discussing the effects of yoga and the reasons for which people participate in it. She said that yoga is about breath and breathing, relaxation, meditation, and physical strength.

The word "yoga" means union, and it is a union of body, mind, and spirit, creating the ultimate sense of peace. With yoga, one is completely in control, and yoga teaches one how to deal calmly with something and then to let it go and move on to the next thing.

Ultimately, yoga is good practice for dealing with life. Yoga is both a mental and a physical activity; the movement is challenging, but not competitive. Yoga stimulates but does not overwork the heart, and fatigue is not a factor because the body is relaxed and strengthened. Clements finished her presentation by leading a yoga session for the students who were present.

Body Appreciation Week offered a wealth of information for students on how to appreciate and learn about their bodies as well as how to make them function to the best of their ability. It was an informative and well-organized week that seemed to be quite successful and well accepted on campus. There was a myriad of literature available at every session pertaining to its topic and presenters were always willing to hang back and speak with students who had further questions. The week was very informative and inspirational.