Body Health: Negotiating a Disordered Eating Culture

As I attended the November 8^th Brown Bag, Body Health: Navigating a Disordered Eating Culture, I was impressed with the number of people who attended as well as the type of speakers that had assembled to talk about body image and eating disorders on our campus. There was one student who discussed her personal struggles and an athletic trainer who has experience with students with unhealthy eating and exercise routines. There was a professor who has had her own personal battle with body image and who has also seen the progression of the campus’ attitude towards body types, and a counselor who helps students who are seeking help for body image health issues. Overall, I think the panel gave a very well rounded view of the topic. The speakers discussed how the image of the perfect body on this campus is unrealistic and unique to Colgate. As one panelist described, its not normal to only eat almonds all day. Another important topic that arose was how exercising too much is as destructive as an eating disorder.The speakers discussed how it is not healthy to work out 3-4 hours a day, everyday; yet that is a common occurrence at Colgate. I think that the take home message from this brown bag was that its important to talk about these issues and be supportive of each other because you never really know how other people are feeling, especially about their own body image.