B reathing a sigh of relief, she gives a satisfied smile as her size zero jeans smoothly glide up over her emaciated legs. Easily buttoning the doll-sized pants, she does not notice the curious glances of the other women in the dressing room.
On her way out, consciously she ignores the grumbling of her stomach as the deliciously enticing smell of fresh, hot French fries teases her senses. She's done so well today - it's already 4 p.m., and all she's had to eat is one cup of dry Rice Krispies at O-Hill and an apple in her room before going to the gym. Quickly calculating the horrific amount of calories in a French fry, she fills up her water bottle and congratulates herself for passing up the food.
Sound familiar? Hopefully not. But unfortunately, this episode may be more common than it sounds.
Last Tuesday night at 7:30 in Physics 204, a panel of six doctors and students gave a poignant information session about the increasing prevalence of eating disorders in American society.
Dr. Lee Llewellyn, director of the Mary D. Ainsworth Psychological Clinic and associate psychology professor, kicked off the night with an overview of the three main types of eating disorders.
"There are 3 main types: anorexia, bulemia and overeaters," Llewellyn said. "But many people don't fit into the strict criteria of one."
Llewellyn stressed that even though some people's conditions are not severe enough to be diagnosed with one specific disorder, still many do in fact suffer problems.
"These people are called disordered eaters," she said. "They change their lifestyle around food."
Some of Llewellyn's examples of disordered eating included refusing to eat certain types of food for fear of fat and avoiding social events where a certain food such as pizza would be present.
"I wish this wasn't part of our culture, but in a society where women are objects it's going to happen," said third-year College student Lauren Fritsch, a recovering Bulemic. "I think the University attracts super high achievers, and appearance accounts for a lot in the South."
A member of the crew team, Fritsch said she's been battling her illness since her freshman year of high school.
"Being an athlete has been a big part of it," she said. "You're constantly getting evaluated based on what you look like and how well you're performing."
Disturbed by the lack of concrete statistics about students with eating disorders and disordered eating patterns at the University, Fritsch and her friend, Sarah Fischer, have been working on a project to collect information on University students.
"We have secured the use of a survey from a Harvard professor named Pam Keele who has repeatedly used it to accurately measure the undergraduate students at Harvard," Fritsch said. "This makes our research more beneficial, and it ensures a professional project."
Unfortunately, Fritsch and Fischer currently lack the necessary funds to offer the confidential survey, but once it gets off the ground, they plan to use their data to target programming at the University.
"We want to find out what kind of environmental variables such as Greek life and living arrangements contribute to eating disorders," Fritsch said. "This is the first time I've gone public with my eating disorder, and I'd like to see a lot of good come out of our project."
Second-year College student, Jessica Tarleton, a recovering anorexic, agreed that the University environment might be conducive to eating disorders.
"I think it's really competitive in almost every way you can think of - socially and academically," Tarleton said. "People are driven to be in shape and fit a certain image."
Tarleton's anorexia began in her freshman year of high school after she entered a small private school, very different from the large, public middle school she had attended.
"That was probably the triggering event, but lots of factors caused it," Tarleton said. "I used to be a perfectionist, wanting to please everyone and ignoring things for myself."
After choosing to go into inpatient therapy in the winter of her sophomore year of high school, Tarleton said she was better able to get control of her situation.
"It was such a turning point because I hadn't been paying enough attention to myself," she said. "I wasn't able to give myself room to get better until I dropped the rest of my activities and committed myself."
By her senior year of high school, Tarleton was on the road to recovery.
"I was running cross country and doing well," she said. "No one was worried about me going off to college."
For whatever reason, though, Tarleton took "a couple of steps back" in her first semester at the University, but continuing individual therapy helped her to get back on her feet.
"I was able to overcome it, but I'm still in group therapy because I'm still working on healthy coping mechanisms," Tarleton said.
In terms of University life, Tarleton said it is a hard environment for people dealing with a problem focused around living up to such high standards.
"I feel like I see someone everyday who looks unhealthy, but I also know lots of people who don't look like they have a problem even though they do," she said.
It's a problem that cannot be diagnosed solely by appearances.
"People who have or have had an eating disorder can see it in others, while those who haven't won't notice," Fritsch said. "I think we're more intuitive after experience."
First-year Engineering student Michelle Smith, a recovering anorexic, admitted it is difficult seeing the hoards of thin bodies at the University.
"It's really hard seeing all of the skinny people around Grounds," Smith said. "But I remind myself how miserable I was and realize that there's so much more to life than being skinny."
Smith's anorexia started a little over a year ago in the winter of her senior year of high school. She lost a drastic amount of weight in a very short time, and the day after graduation, she was admitted to the hospital because her vitals were so low.
Smith spent the majority of her summer at an inpatient facility and after her release, came directly to the University.
"I was advised not to leave for college," she said. "But I set goals for myself and I'm still here because I met them."
The fight with eating disorders never ends, but Smith said she has found little ways to cope.
"One thing that I do is write nasty letters to companies that put emaciated women in their ads," she said.
According to www.about-face.org, aWeb site that combats negative and distorted images of women, each person comes into contact with 400 to 600 advertisements per day, and one in 11 focus directly on beauty.
That statistic, and the fact that Smith said she still struggles with her eating disorder, makes the battle a big part of her life. But Smith now realizes the good things in life that her eating disorder took away.
"The best moment in my life was when my mother hugged me and said she didn't have to cry anymore because I had meat on my bones," Smith said.
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