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OPINION
| October 8, 2003
Guest Column
Order for Disorders
UTA should create 5-part system
to aid those with eating disorders
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| The Shorthorn: Ryan Hartsell |
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Some people are so afraid of gaining the
Freshman 15 that they become bulimic or anorexic.
People who are bulimic follow periods of excessive overeating with
self-induced vomiting, while anorexia is an obsession about losing
weight by refusing to eat. The numbers can be staggering. Experts
note that up to 20 percent of all women on college campuses exhibit
some sort of eating-disorder behavior. I often wonder how many more
students on UTA’s campus are not included in the reported
numbers.
There is a great deal that can be done to improve on services for
people with eating disorders and their families. UTA should have
a network of resources to address eating and body concerns and become
part of the solution to the growing problem.
I envision a five-prong network that would communicate efficiently
for thorough patient-care follow-up — this is essential to
assure no one falls through the cracks.
• Start with the Quest Wellness program’s eating disorders
support group, a safe place offering discussion of a variety of
issues, including body image and eating disorders. This could be
complemented by a comprehensive Medical Nutrition Therapy and counseling
service with registered and licensed dietitians, available at a
nominal fee. The program would also be a forum to educate students
with eating and body image problems about how to exercise appropriately
as they go through the healing process.
• The Women’s Studies program could be another wonderful
resource — its library could house resources on women’s
physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Research could also
be conducted through this program.
• A third prong would be Counseling Services. It could provide
assessment, individual and group counseling for eating disorders
as well as outreach and educational programming on eating disorders.
Perhaps students could also receive referrals to health care professionals
off-campus.
• Student Health Services, the fourth prong, could provide
medical evaluations and nutritional counseling. Students could also
be referred by the Counseling Services for psychiatric evaluations
to determine if medication would help during treatment.
• The fifth prong could be a chartered student organization
dedicated to increasing awareness of eating disorders, providing
educational programming and informing students about resources available
to them. The members could be trained to do outreach programming
on campus by request. Counseling Services could be the contact point
for this organization.
For this collaboration to truly work, all staff members need to
be trained to provide support and referrals on some level or another.
This would be a vast improvement on what is in place.
Whether the problem is gaining weight or losing too much, it is
essential that students find a balance between nutrition, sleep
and exercise as they navigate through the college experience.
— Carrie Lutter is the Campus Recreation Quest Wellness assistant
director.
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