Campus Offers Eating Disorder Awareness Events

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VANCOUVER, Wash. - To educate and screen students for eating disorders, and to provide at-risk students with the resources they need, Washington State University Vancouver's staff psychologist, Dawnn McWatters, will be coordinating several on-campus events during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, Feb. 24 - March 1.

  • Feb. 25, 11a.m. - 1 p.m., a free and anonymous eating disorder screening will be held in the Administration Building gallery area. McWatters, a specialist in eating disorder treatment, will be available to meet briefly with interested students following their initial screening. Free psycho-educational materials on eating disorders and a range of related topics, such as healthy lifestyles and the role of eating disorders in athletics, will also be available.
  • Feb. 27, 12 p.m. - 1:15 p.m., a Reality Makeover Workshop in the Firstenburg Student Commons will bring participants together to recreate the appearance of popular dolls, and to contest popular media images of "ideal" body types that are actually only possessed naturally by 5% (or less) of American females. The event will be facilitated by local psychotherapist Hilary Kinavey, an expert in eating disorders and weight/body image concerns.

Up to 24 million Americans of all ages and genders suffer from eating disorders; although only 1 in 10 receive treatment. Past surveys reveal that 91% of women surveyed on college campuses had attempted to control their weight through dieting, and 25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a weight-management technique. In addition, an estimated 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are male, although men are less likely to seek treatment for eating disorders because of the perception that they are "women's diseases."

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