EATING DISORDER SCREENINGS PLANNED

Eating disorders range from eating little at all to compulsive overeating to bingeing and purging.

No matter what form it takes, such a disorder can threaten a person's mental and physical health and even that person's life.

"Eating disorders are scary because people can die from them," said Dr. Beth Mansfield, a psychologist in the Center for Health and Counseling at Southeast Missouri State University.

While eating disorders aren't that common -- only about 5 percent of the U.S. population suffers from one -- about 20 percent of college-age women have an eating disorder, said Mansfield, who is coordinating Eating Disorders Awareness Week this week at Southeast.

Activities will include screenings, programs and displays for the public.

The week is part of a nationwide awareness effort sponsored by Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention and the National Eating Disorders Screening Program to decrease the incidence of eating disorders and increase awareness, Mansfield said.

Eating disorders, according to Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, are illnesses associated with disturbances in eating behavior, severe body image distortion and an obsession with weight. Sufferers are terrified of gaining weight and continue to diet or binge and purge even as their mental and physical health deteriorates.

Generally, the three types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, in which sufferers literally starve themselves by dramatically restricting their food intake; bulimia nervosa, characterized by recurrent periods of binge-eating followed by purging, generally by intentionally vomiting, using laxatives or compulsively exercising; and binge eating disorder, eating enormous amounts of food very quickly, even when not hungry.

The onset of eating disorders peaks between age 14 and 18, corresponding to the ages of changes in an adolescent female's body and the transition to college and leaving the family home, according to the National Eating Disorders Screening Program.

"Most 18-year-olds experience a lot of pressure to quickly become adults when sometimes they still feel like kids," Mansfield said.

Going off to college or leaving home can put more pressure and stress on people, which can make them feel unsure of themselves, Mansfield said.

Combined with peer pressure to look a certain way to feel popular or accepted, it can cause distortions in body image and reliance on dieting to feel in control.

Certain things put people more at risk for developing an eating disorder, Mansfield said.

These include perfectionism, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, substance abuse in the person or family, difficulty expressing feelings and sociocultural factors.

The latter includes the many images of thin models and actresses that saturate the media, Mansfield said.

According to Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, the average American female model is 5-foot-11 and weighs 117 pounds, measurements naturally attainable by only about 5 percent of the population.

On the other hand, the average American woman is 5-foot-4 and weights 140 pounds.

"There is pressure to look and act a certain way that is unhealthy for the vast majority of girls and women," Mansfield said.

People with eating disorders may recognize their problem, but they often will deny it to others. "There is a lot of denial and shame," she said.

Those who are concerned that they may have an eating disorder are encouraged to come to free screening sessions from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday on the first floor of the Student Recreation Center and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the third-floor lobby of the University Center.

The screening consists of filling out a questionnaire on attitudes about eating and weight that Mansfield said takes less than 10 minutes.

Counselors and nutritionists will be on hand to look over the questionnaires, discuss the results and give referrals for further counseling if the screening reveals a tendency toward eating disorders.

Sample questions from the test, taken from the National Eating Disorders Screening Program Web site are:

* Are you terrified about being overweight?

* Have you gone on eating binges where you feel you may not be able to stop?

* Do you feel extremely guilty after eating?

* Do you vomit or have the impulse to vomit after meals?

* Do you feel that food controls your life?

Screening is important, Mansfield said, because there are treatments to help those with eating disorders and the earlier the problem is recognized, the more effective treatment is.

Treatment for an eating disorder generally includes individual therapy, group therapy, nutritional counseling and medical assessment, Mansfield said.

"You need all these because it's a multidimensional problem," she said.

She said anti-depressants have been successful in helping with eating disorders in some cases.

"For many people, it's a long recovery process," Mansfield said.

She explained that while people may stop engaging in eating disorder behaviors, they may continue to experience body image problems and the urge to restrict food or binge and purge.

EATING DISORDER AWARENESS

Eating Disorders Awareness Week will be held today through Friday. It is sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and the events will be held on campus but all are free and open to the public.

Those events include:

* "How to Help a Friend or Loved One with an Eating Disorder," a discussion on intervention, 7 to 8 tonight at Johnson Faculty Centre, 520 N. Pacific.

* "Test Your Attitudes About Eating and Weight," a screening for tendency toward eating disorders, 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday on the first floor of the Student Recreation Center and 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the third-floor lobby of the University Center.

* "When Did We Learn to Hate Our Bodies?" an interactive program about body image and self-assessment, 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Glenn Auditorium in Dempster Hall.

* "Nutritional Supplements: Are They for You?" question-and-answer session, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 2 of the Student Recreation Center.

* Displays about eating problems, today through Friday in the Southeast Bookstore and Kent Library.