Understanding Eating Disorders In College Students

If you or someone you care about has an eating disorder, help is available! Here’s an informative interview about college students, eating disorders, and how to help. Eating disorders are at epidemic levels on college and university campuses.

1) How common are eating disorders among college students?

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, eating disorders are highly common in colleges, the current statistic being around 20%. Due to the high-stress levels, the new atmosphere, and the anxiety of getting good grades, many people turn to food or, conversely, turn away from it. Dieting is huge and some students can’t stop after losing a few pounds.

2) What eating disorders are most common among college students?

Usually, students begin by going on a diet to either shed or avoid the Freshman 15. But those who are susceptible to eating disorders become obsessed with losing weight and begin their downward spiral with disordered eating.

Bulimia and compulsive binge eating are the most common types of eating disorders among college students mostly because of the high level of stress on campus. Young people being overwhelmed by their new situation, new people and a heavy workload make the anxiety-ridden eating disorder of bulimia a widespread struggle. Anorexia is also common, as another way that some people deal with overwhelming situations is to shut themselves off.

By not eating, or eating very little, they believe they can get a grip on the busy life of a college student and just focus on their grades. Either way, they usually become very isolated, push their friends away, and end up only focused on food and weight. By this time, though, they are too consumed to get out by themselves.

3) What is it about college life that puts students at risk of getting an eating disorder?

For most students, this is their first time away from home. For some, they’re not even living near their family. Whether they have a strong family connection or not, the safe feeling of being near the people they have known for their entire lives is gone. They are now immersed in this new life on campus with the pressure to succeed. Unlike high school, they pay to attend and usually have pressure from their parents to keep up their grades and choose a clear direction to go in. With homework and social life, students often feel overwhelmed and riddled with stress and anxiety.

Those are precursors for eating disorders and if there’s no outlet to express or deal with their emotions, it becomes an “easy” solution to focus on food and weight.

4) What should students do if they need help with an eating disorder?

I can only hope that most campuses have counselors that students can talk to. Getting a referral to a therapist is the number one priority. If this is done early enough, recovery can be made fairly quickly. Most often, though, the individual suffering from an eating disorder will not seek help themselves. Usually, the people around them must help them to see how much they are hurting themselves. The best way to do that is to show concern and offer to assist in finding help.

5) Is there anything colleges and universities can do to help alleviate this problem?

Having a resource center with counselors who are equipped in dealing specifically with eating disorders is very important. Because this is such a common problem among the student population, it’s essential that help is near and easy to access. There should be support groups where students can go to talk and be surrounded by positive people who support their recovery.