College is often a difficult time socially. For many, pressures from peers and professors can contribute to self-destructive behavior, including eating disorders. Experts say that the college years are encompass the age range in which eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are most likely to begin.
According to a recent story in The Tennessean:
The average age for the onset of anorexia and bulimia is between 18 and 20, depending on the study — just as teens begin college.
Once there, they have plenty of company.
The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 25 percent of college students have eating disorders. The same percent of college women report managing weight by binging and purging, says the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
The problem’s more widespread among women, but men aren’t immune. The association says
10 percent to 15 percent of anorexics and bulimics are male.
“You can pick them out,” McInnis said, of college students with eating problems. “I gravitated toward them. It’s almost this silent club.”
Broach subject carefully
Winter break is an opportunity for parents to notice changes in their college-age children. The real tip-off to an eating disorder isn’t their appearance, but rather mood and habits.
Counselors describe many signs of an eating disorder:
• Is the student depressed, anxious?
• Is he isolating himself?
• Does she seem obsessed with her appearance, size or food?
• Does he avoid eating with people, perhaps saying, “I ate earlier?”
• Is he scrutinizing food labels, counting calories?
• Is she so dissatisfied by her appearance or clothes that she avoids social activities?
Read the full story and learn more signs of eating disorders at The Tennessean.
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