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ELLEN: My biggest concern is the younger generation. I heard that the pipes at a local co-ed college are ruined because of all the vomiting from young female students. They are using that as a weight loss strategy. How do we reach the young women?
THERESA: That is so scary. I also worry about young college women. They are at particular risk for eating disorders at a time in their lives when they are under a lot of pressure in so many ways. My daughter frets so much about her studying and her friends that she doesn't any take time to take care of herself. And she makes no time to exercise, though in high school she ran track and cross country.
At the very least, I think health and nutrition courses should be required for college students, don't you?
APRIL: I saw so many women with this problem in college. Being away from home for the first time, along with incredible stress from classes, forced a lot of women to seek perfection in totally unhealthy ways.
What advice can anyone offer for parents and for young women to deal with these issues?
THERESA: By the way, next week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. The National Eating Disorders Association has some excellent advice about self-image and anorexia, bulimia and other threats to women's health. Their information and referral helpline is 1-800-931-2237. Health clinics at colleges around the country offer screenings and other resources if you think a young woman you know may have an eating disorder, or simply if you think she's stressed or depressed and could use some clinical help.
Wendy: You know, I agree with that about nutrition as a class. Many schools now have freshman classes that attempt to instill better study and social habits in the incoming kids (cleverly disguised, of course). Why not also have stress management and nutrition in there? Of course, kids think they are invincible, but if you pitched it as fitness (which they do care about) maybe they'd listen. At the very least, it's worth talking to the college-age kids -- particularly girls -- who you love and have them watch for the warning signs in themselves and their friends.
Posted by: Wendy on February 16, 2004 11:04 AMYou need to start before college for nutrition classes. All the women I knew who had eating disorders in college started as teens. Many of them had already been in an out of clinics to help them overcome their disorders. Many bad food habits are started in high school, if not younger. Shouldn't high schools revamp their Heath classes with better fitness and nutrition segments, including eating disorder screenings, as a way to intercept the formation of this distructive behavior in the first place?
Posted by: meg on February 16, 2004 02:15 PMMeg, that's an excellent point. Are high schools doing that? If not, they should be!!!
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