A celebration of body positivity takes place this week at The University of Alabama. Today through Friday, Body Appreciation Week fills campus with activities celebrating bodies of all shapes and sizes. This week focuses on raising awareness for eating disorders and promoting body appreciation.
UA’s Department of Health Promotion and Wellness organizes a week full of events like deep dive into diet culture, body positivity in the LGBTQIA+ community and a photoshoot for a “What Makes You Beautiful” campaign. The on campus Counseling Center, University Recreation and Women and Gender Resource Center are teaming up to show what body positivity looks like.
Sheena Gregg is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who works at UA. She said eating disorders might be more common than you think.
“Statistically, about 29 million Americans experience a clinically significant eating disorder during their lifetime… eating disorders actually have the second highest mortality rate of any mental illness.”
These high rates show the dangers of this mental disorder and the importance of spreading awareness on a college campus. She said there are many ways students might fall into this behavior.
“Sometimes, an eating disorder may be the result of a student trying to cope in an unhealthy way from their parents having a divorce, or maybe they are overwhelmed with their academics.”
A traumatic event like sexual assault can also trigger this, or a young individual seeing disordered eating in a family member. People with eating disorders might feel that the only thing they can control is something related to their food behaviors.
Body Appreciation Week is for all students, no matter their background, to spread awareness and learn to support those with eating disorders. Recovery involves a treatment team from a mental health professional, but a friend or parent can show additional support for an individual.
During this week, a virtual event targets parents and families of UA students to equip them with how to best support their student with an eating disorder. Gregg said this could include using helpful language to create a supportive environment at home.
“As a clinician, many of the questions that I often get are from parents, because they're not sure how they're supposed to support their student because they don't necessarily understand their student’s eating disorder.”
There are additional resources for students like registered dieticians at the Student Health Center, the Counseling Center and the Collegiate Recovery Community that serves as a community for students recovering from their eating disorder.
The complexities around body image are vast, but a week full of inclusive activities aimed at teaching students and parents how to approach this subject can help both themselves and others. More details and a full list of events for Body Appreciation Week are on the Health Promotion and Wellness website.
