Eating Disorders

by Marian Eberly , Bonnie Harken

The causes and contributors to eating disorders are many and complex. Although the
following influences do not constitute a comprehensive list of contributing factors, they
are often present in eating disorders.

Influences
We live in a culture that is driven by the pursuit of perfection. Unrealistic expectations
for our physical appearance are common for many. Conversely, satisfaction with one's
body seems rare for the vast majority of Americans (witness the growth of the diet and
fitness industry in the last 10 years).

Society is obsessed with dieting and places great importance on thinness and physical
perfection.

We are bombarded with messages, visual and otherwise, that illustrate beauty in a picture
of thinness that few can attain. Airbrushing and computer-enhancement are often used by
the media to create this false picture of perfection. Body doubles are used in movies to
promote the illusion of physical flawlessness. Many models seen in advertising are 13 to
16 years old, offering a representation of beauty unattainable for most. Sadly, individuals
who do not feel affirmed and valued because of impaired identities and deficits in their
sense of self may swallow these lies, feeling that the only way to be accepted by others is
to be "perfect."

Eating disorders are often the result of entwining of societal pressures and the individual's
psychological makeup. Unable to feel valued and wanting to attain acceptance through
thinness and perfection, the basic human activity of eating becomes fertile soil for the
onset and progression of an eating disorder.

Family Influences
Family relationships are complex and central to the development of a child's sense of self.
Often these family relationships are replicated with others. One patient in treatment for
her bulimia writes:

My parents were healthcare professionals who gave us a great home, love and many
advantages growing up, but there were unspoken high expectations. My brother, sister
and I were high achieving, straight-A students. We were the "perfect" family outwardly,
but my spirit was wounded when I did not receive the time and attention I needed from
my well-intentioned father. Unknowingly, I was developing a strong hunger for male
attention that would later cause me grief. In high school I excelled in sports, and that
became the key to my individuality and identity, creating a limelight that did not include
my siblings.

Writing later of her experiences in treatment, she continues:

I was in treatment long enough to begin to recreate my family dynamics with staff and
peers —a very important piece of my treatment experience. As I began to experience
events that previously triggered my eating disorder behaviors, I was unable to run to my
bulimia or other unhealthy coping mechanisms. Inner growth began as I endured the
emotions … hurt ... and began to problem-solve. Success at problem solving led to
contentment and victory over the urge to practice my eating disorder behaviors. That
feeling of contentment gave me courage to carry out the new coping skills I was learning.

Buck Runyan, MS, CPC, program director at Remuda Programs' Adolescent Facility
writes:

There is a common emotional characteristic which girls who develop eating disorders
share. They tend to be hypersensitive. They are easily affected by the emotional content
in the home. When the home has tension, pain, anger, sorrow, guilt or shame, regardless
of their origin, girls with eating disorders tend to personalize them. These feelings are
then avoided or denied. Most physically store their feelings in a combination of two
places, the stomach and head. They may perceive their stomach to be sensitive, queasy,
big or full. She may not have ingested physical nutrients to cause these perceptions; for it
may be that she has literally swallowed her emotions. When the stomach is "full" of
emotions, it is extremely difficult to add real food to such a small organ. It is not unusual
for these girls to be academically talented. They may direct their mental capacities toward
controlling the basics of their existence including what goes into their bodies. They may
have been called unceasingly stubborn or exceptionally gifted; yet what remains is the
fact that this ability for self-discipline can be the steel girder holding the eating disorder
in place.

All families have their areas of dysfunction. Some families experience obvious relational
problems, while others have what appear to be minimal difficulties. But even in highly
dysfunctional families, not all children will develop eating disorders. The question then
becomes: What gives one family member the strength to overcome their family's
shortcomings while another family member is damaged so severely by the same set of
circumstances? The answer may be found in the Bible, which tells us of our God-given
uniqueness (e.g., Psalm 139:14).

In the eating disorder recovery process, the family system needs to work together with
the individual suffering from the disorder. As each family member takes responsibility
for his or her part of the process, healing begins.

Past Events
At the core of an eating disorder is often a specific, traumatic incident, or a set of
circumstances or perceptions, that have wounded the person in such a way as to lead to
an expression of that pain through the symptoms of an eating disorder. These experiences
or perceptions may involve abandonment, rejection or neglect. Additionally, physical,
emotional, or sexual abuse often lies at the heart of the shame that traps eating disordered
individuals in their pain. The emotional difficulties of eating disordered individuals
revolve around control, mistrust, shame, guilt, dysfunctional family and interpersonal
relationships, frozen emotions and perfectionism.

From these problems, defense mechanisms and other coping skills develop, allowing the
person to survive the painful event. This creates a "scab" over the wound, but does not
allow true healing. As the wound festers with the passing of time, the victim's sense of
self becomes more and more disrupted.

In many cases, there are links between the family's medical and psychological history and
the individual's eating disorder. It is common to discover that the family background
contains various psychological illnesses (such as depression, severe anxiety or
personality disorders), various addictions (such as alcohol or drugs), relational, sexual
and/or eating disorders and various physical ailments. Research has not yet determined
whether the causal factors are psychological or biological, yet it appears that these are
closely intertwined and must be treated in unison for the best results.

Eating disorders are defense mechanisms that "protect" individuals from the pain and
woundedness of their life experiences. Breaking through this cycle of faulty thinking
requires the help of a trained mental health professional.

Copyright © 2000 Focus on the Family.

Signs and Symptoms

Some of the warning signs of anorexia nervosa, bulimia
nervosa and binge eating disorder.
by David Wall, Ph.D. and Bonnie Harken Marian Eberly , Bonnie Harken
Q. Are there signs/symptoms I would notice if my teenager or someone else I know is
struggling with an eating disorder?
A. Early detection of an eating disorder may prevent a teenager from years of significant
misery and disruption in his or her life. Take a moment and think about your teenager's
behavior and the following signs of a possible eating disorder:

• Preoccupation with weight, food, calories and dieting

• Exercise is an excessive, rigid activity despite fatigue, illness, injury or weather
• Constant complaints about being fat in spite of normal or thin appearance
• Frequent comparison of body image/diet with others
 • Unnatural facial hair growth in girls due to malnutrition
• Withdrawal from activities because of weight and shape concerns
• Anxiety about being fat which does not diminish with weight loss
• Evidence of self-induced vomiting
• Messes and smells in the bathroom
• Disappearing to the bathroom after meals
• Swelling of the glands near the ear which creates a "chipmunk" appearance
(caused by inflammation of the saliva glands)
• Evidence (wrappers, coupons, advertisements, etc.) of the use of laxatives,
diuretics, diet pills, enemas
• Consumption of large amounts of food inconsistent with the person's weight, or
hoarding/stealing food
• Alternating periods of restrictive dieting and overeating sometimes accompanied
by dramatic weight gain or loss
• Cessation or erratic menstrual cycles
• Obsession with appearance as a definition of self which is often accompanied by
perfectionist thinking
• Fainting, lightheadedness or dizziness not explained by any other medical
problem
• Unusual redness and puffiness around the eyes caused by purging, binge eating
and overeating
• Poor dental hygiene, bad breath, dryness of the mouth area and cracked lips,
caused by purging and dehydration
• Abnormal sleeping patterns
• Hyperactivity
• Refusal to eat meals with family
• Food rituals (such as eating food in rigid sequence, foods cannot touch each other,
eating a very limited variety of foods, cutting food into small pieces, blotting
foods with napkins to remove fat)

These are some of the warning signs of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge
eating disorder. Severe medical complications may accompany these diseases. Some of
the complications are deadly.

Copyright © 1999 Focus on the Family.

The Fight with Food

With the spread of obesity in the U.S., many Americans
are taking extreme measures against the battle of
the bulge.
by Marian Eberly , Bonnie Harken
In a country sporting all-you-can-eat buffets and fitness centers galore, it's not surprising
many Americans are duking it out with food. What is shocking is the tactics that some
use — starvation, bingeing and purging — to reach their goals of control and acceptance.

While the number of young women with anorexia and bulimia increased in the past
decade, take note: The misuse and abuse of food isn't an issue restricted to teen girls;
women, men and teen boys struggle with eating disorders as well. Here, two people share
their stories.

A Battle From Within

Sandy Richardson, 42, started the downward spiral of anorexia and bulimia a month and
a half after she married at age 24 — about the time she rededicated her life to God. At 5
feet 4 1/2 inches, Sandy went from a healthy weight of 128 pounds to 98 pounds.

"Through treatment, I realized my eating disorder was my way of trying to keep my

husband's love," she says. "I thought if I could look good on the outside, he would never
look on the inside and see the ugliness there: a past of alcohol abuse and promiscuity."

Once she started losing weight, Sandy received praise from her husband, Scott, and co-
workers in the Air Force. Almost everyone she encountered seemed to equate being thin
with being healthy.

As a military couple, Sandy and Scott moved frequently. She worked 14- and 15-hour
days and didn't always see him at meal times. When they did eat together, Sandy ate a
normal meal and forced herself to throw it up soon afterward.

"I had never heard of anorexia or bulimia," she says, "so I didn't know I had a problem.
To me, it was dieting — self-control — and that was a good thing. But the vomiting? I
thought it was disgusting."

Along with emotional distress, Sandy's limited food intake and purging took a physical
toll on her body. She had no energy, a weak immune system and ear and kidney
infections. Her menstrual cycle also disappeared. Doctors attributed Sandy's poor health
to stress and said they'd treat her as problems appeared.

One day, as Sandy flipped through a Christian magazine, comparing herself to everyone
on its pages, she came across an ad for Remuda Ranch, a Christian treatment center for
teen and adult women with eating disorders.

After calling Remuda and learning more about the battle she had fought for 13 years,
Sandy started treatment and stayed at Remuda for 72 days. "My time at Remuda turned
out to be a life-changing event. I felt unconditional love and acceptance for the first
time," she says. "I learned who God is and what His nature is really like. It changed me
completely."
Sandy's road to recovery wasn't an easy one, but through the course of several years she
became well, both emotionally and physically. She and Scott, along with their two teen
daughters, live in Wickenburg, Ariz., not far from Remuda Ranch, where Sandy now
works as executive director of the Remuda Foundation.

A Battle From Without

Chris Riser, 32, also knows the transformation and healing God can bring to a person
with disordered eating. As a 10th-grader, Chris enjoyed playing sports and was well-liked
at school and church. He always felt accepted and comfortable with who he was.

But when his parents moved their family from California to Colorado, Chris was
devastated and suddenly became very concerned about his weight. He was 5 feet 10
inches tall and weighed 140 pounds when he started his bout with bulimia.

"My response to the move was, 'I can't control where I'm going to be, but I can control
my eating, my food and my weight.' I was trying to make new friends and fit in with a
new youth group, and my eating habits became very strange," he says. "I didn't eat
breakfast, lunch or dinner, but I'd snack voraciously after school. My parents didn't notice
the change because I was at school all day, and I worked four nights a week."

After high school, this self-described perfectionist attended college and participated in an
internship as a youth pastor. And all the while, his pattern of skipping meals and bingeing
continued. Instead of purging by vomiting, Chris purged with exercise. He dropped to
130 pounds — not a life-threatening weight, but certainly unhealthy.

"When I was working at McDonald's, I'd sometimes eat six or seven cheeseburgers, six or
seven boxes of chocolate chip cookies, drink lots of soda and then top it all off with two
apple pies," he says. "If I wasn't at work, I'd buy a gallon of ice cream and eat the whole
thing. That's a lot of ice cream!

"I tried to throw up, but I could never do it. I'd get frustrated with myself and would
exercise even more. We're talking insane amounts of exercise! I'd run five miles down the
street, run back, play a couple games of basketball, run another couple miles and then go
for a long, hard bike ride."

Chris' mentor confronted him twice about his eating habits, and Chris agreed to see a
counselor. But after three visits, he decided to forgo the counseling and allow God to deal
with him directly.

"I asked Him to help me stop," Chris says. "I think my walk with the Lord increased at
that point because I was trusting Him to help me. I'd try to eat three meals and not eat at
other times. I'd do well for a couple of weeks and then totally blow it. But by the time I
was 26, my continual struggle to eat properly was over."
This article originally appeared in Focus on the Family magazine. Copyright © 2000
Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.

Teens and Eating Disorders

Here are some things you can do to help prevent an
eating disorder in your child.
from Marian Eberly , Bonnie Harken

There are several things you can do, besides talking to your preteen about body changes
to expect during puberty, to help prevent an eating disorder in your child:

Examine your own attitudes and behaviors regarding weight and appearance. Talk
with your children about genetic differences in body types and the devastating effects of
irrational prejudice.

Examine what you are modeling. Do you exhibit acceptance of yourself and take
appropriate measures to deal with your body function and size, or do you practice self-
condemnation, criticism of your spouse's body, extreme dieting, etc.?

Examine your dreams and goals for your children and other loved ones. Are you
overemphasizing physical appearance and body shape, especially for girls?

Don't shame or ridicule your child (verbally or nonverbally). Parents who do can
send your child careening toward an eating disorder. Children need to know they are
loved unconditionally. And since feeling helpless and out of control is common among
eating-disordered individuals, stability and healthy relationships within families are
extremely importance.

Be aware of the messages you send about the "chubby child" in your family. Do you
communicate, through words and action, positive or negative feelings about his or her
value, talents, and lovability?

Don't encourage or force your children to diet. It can actually push your kids toward
unhealthy eating patterns that last a lifetime. The best approach is to simply provide
balanced, nutritious meals.

Be involved and offer appropriate direction. Abdicating your parental role by offering
your children too little direction can also be just as damaging as controlling to tightly. It
can leave children feeling left adrift.

Don't say things that make your child feel responsible for your well-being or the well-
being of others in the family.
Help to develop your teen's critical thinking skills by talking about celebrities whose
lives are dysfunctional and filled with problems in spite of having the "perfect" body. Or
do some research on how magazine photos are airbrushed and how movies use "body
doubles." Young people who realize that "perfection" is not always what it seems are
better able to establish realistic standards for themselves.

Avoid categorizing foods as "good" or "bad."

Be a good role model by eating sensibly, using exercise as a path to good health and
enjoyment.

Do not avoid activities (such as swimming, water skiing, etc.) because they call
attention to your size and shape.

Do whatever you can to encourage your teenager's self-respect based on intellectual,

spiritual, athletic and social endeavors.

Practice complimenting people for what they say, feel and do — not for how thin they
are.

Help your family become discerning regarding media messages that imply a slender
body means happiness and success.

Look at what's wrong with the message "thin is best" rather than focusing on what's
wrong with your body.

Use caution when exposing high-risk teens to anti-eating disorder materials. Books,
documentaries and pamphlets warning against disordered eating have often been used by
anorexics and bulimics as how-to guides.

If you suspect your teen is already developing an eating disorder, seek help immediately.
Early detection and treatment can be very important, so consult with a qualified medical
or mental health professional right away.

Copyright © 2000, 2002 Focus On the Family. All rights reserved. International
Copyright Secured.

The Trap of Eating Disorders

Understanding the core problem of bulimia and
anorexia, hope can be found.
by Marian Eberly , Bonnie Harken
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in
you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred,
and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16- 17).

I wish I had thought of this passage as I lay gasping in the dark stairwell, the cold, gray
cement wracking my frame with continued shivers. I didn’t, of course. I was much too
busy destroying myself to think of Christ’s love letter to me. A moment later I heaved
again, throwing up for the 11th time that hour, then sank back against the windowsill,
cradling my aching head in my quivering arms.

I’d done it again: My last meal had been exactly 92 hours ago, and I could no longer
handle the gnawing hunger. I indulged in a bowl of rice and corn, eating ravenously and
jealously, all the while focusing on the half-empty bottle of ipecac tucked safely between
two pairs of socks in my top drawer. The moment I finished the bowl, I found the bottle
and guzzled the brown syrup. Immediately a fit of goose bumps shivered down my body
as I struggled to get down the taste of the liquid and the uneasy fear of what followed.

It never took more than 10 minutes, so after 8 p.m., I headed to the bathroom at the end
of the hall, stopping to chat casually for a moment with a friend about our test the next
day. By the time I reached the water fountain, I was sick. A moment later I couldn’t
stand.

By forcing vomiting, ipecac, meant to remove accidentally swallowed poison, rids the
body of everything it touches until it’s neutralized. After an hour in the bathroom, I
stumbled back to my dorm room, keeping my hand on the wall for support. I felt terrible
and relieved at the same time. I had fixed the problem of my eating. A moment later I
knew the ipecac was still working, and I spent the next two hours in the stairwell,
throwing up continuously, first all traces of rice and corn, then water, juices and blood.

A True Picture
I was so sick and weak that I seemed almost to see myself from a distance.

For the first time, I saw how truly revolting I was. With hopeless disgust, my mind
slipped back into my convulsing body, but was stopped by a deep sense of presence. In
fear of being discovered, I grabbed the sides of the trash can and fell back, wasted and
wary, suddenly aware that Christ was near me. Then I knew: I was breaking His heart.

Sitting on the steps by the gray trash cans, ashen and lost, I realized how He wept in His
amazing love for me.

None of us deserve God’s grace and redemption. I’ll never cease to be amazed at how He
has redeemed me! I’m redeemed today, because the only pain I couldn’t bear was the
pain I knew stabbed His heart as He watched me hurt my body. I was hurting myself and
didn’t care as long as I could be thin. I was revolting because of what I was putting my
body through. But God saw past all that, and He has redeemed me!
Labels
“Eating disorders.” I hate the phrase. It’s scientific and functional and broad. The struggle
of mind, soul and body that the phrase refers to is none of these things. I think of eating
disorders as image disorders, or as heart disorders, because eating disorders are a
misorder of values, visions and sufficiency.

As Christians, we can do more than hold each other’s hair back when it comes to
anorexia and bulimia. By understanding where the core of the problem lies and checking
what the Bible has to say about our bodies, we can grasp a hope and a faith that’s out of
this world. When we fall back on these, we can find complete release from the self-
esteem trappings of this world.

For the past few months, I have sought to open the box on the many mysteries involved
in my food disorders and discovered a multitude of questions. The more I make myself
look at my own struggle and its roots, the more I realize how many things have caused
my problem: society, friends, peers, family. I note these to be the causes of many eating
issues, all the while fully aware that we are society, friends, peers, family. Something’s
wrong.

One college male says, “Overweight girls? Naw. I won’t date them. I like them skinny
and small. There are guys out there for those girls, but I’m not one of them.”

Another says, “I want a skinny wife, so why would I date a heavy girl?” Several others
claim weight doesn’t matter at all, but asked when the last time was they were interested
in a girl who was 15 or more pounds overweight, eye contact was averted and silence
ended the conversation.

Another said that while he wouldn’t care for his girlfriend any differently if she were to
gain 20 pounds in the next month, he’s not sure he would have started dating her if she
had gained 20 pounds before they went out. These comments are all from Christian males
in their teens and early 20s. Why do they sound so much like the world? Is there
something wrong with this?

One friend claimed that we should blame the media instead of the guys. “They show us
all these skinny girls,” he says, “and that makes us think, Yeah, I could have that, and so
that’s just what we look for.”

Jenny agrees with him. “Everywhere I look, something in the media is telling me what to
look like. I don’t look like what magazines and movies tell me I’m supposed to, so I’ll do
what it takes to get there.”

What’s Important?
God didn’t need to create you, but He chose to create you for His own enjoyment. When
you fully understand how much God loves you and how much He wants to have a
relationship with you — His special, unique creation — you will never again have a
problem with feeling insignificant.

You can do everything as if you were doing it for Jesus and by carrying on a continual
conversation with Him while you do. If this happens, disorders of the image, of the mind
and of the heart will eventually fade as our focus is taken off ourselves and placed on His
face. Not only will this eliminate our poor self-esteem, but it will also help us remember
the Bible’s command to supply a holy place of worship for the Spirit. So let’s peek at the
facts.

Fact #1: Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

“If I treated my body the way God wanted me to treat my body, I know I would feel
better about it,” admits Natalie. “God doesn’t care how thin I am. He cares what I idolize
and what I put my dependence on.”

“You have to know that you’re royalty, and that royalty deserves to be treated with
honor,” recommends Julie, a former model and nutrition expert, in reference to 1 Peter
2:9. “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.”

When we surrender our bodies to Christ, knowing that they are not our own, we can enter
into a light of truth in which He has called us and leave the dark and desperate fights for
control. In the life of a Christian, control is not even ours to fight for, because we are not
our own but belong to our Creator.

Fact #2: He asks that we remember to whom we belong.

All I wanted was to be skinny. I wanted to lose. I had to lose, seemingly for my sanity,
my strength, my smile. If we seek sufficiency in anyone but Him, we’ll never be content.
The comparison game is one we can’t win. Those who are in Christ have no
condemnation or comparison, so to measure our sufficiency in others is to measure in a
way He doesn’t. Ladies, let’s seek our beauty, our belonging and our futures in the arms
of Christ. He hurts deeply when we settle for less, thinking we’ll find more. He’s more
than enough for all of us.

“No man can serve two masters” has a new meaning for those of us who have made
control of our bodies a master force in our lives. If your weight controls your thoughts,
dictates your habits and consumes your time, then it’s a master. And if food is one’s
master, then God is no master at all.
Is your desire or need to lose weight an expression of your living for Him or of your
living for yourself? Jeremiah 31:3 reminds us that God has loved us with an everlasting
love. That enables us to trust that neither the weight of our bodies nor the weight of our
sins is able to keep us from His precious love and acceptance.

We have to know what we’re hungry for before we can “hunger and thirst after
righteousness.” We always have the drive and the time for the things in life that are truly
important to us. If righteousness is a high priority, then we need to evaluate what must
happen in order to seek this. I’d dare to venture that little righteousness or Christseeking
can be found in many of our diets.

I was sure that nothing could control my eating and my body, yet Scripture tells us that
this is not so. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” 1 Corinthians 6:13 says,
“but God will destroy them both.”

Wake up! You are not your own! You’ve been bought with a great price; therefore,
glorify God with your body. He’s promised that once we let Him lead our hearts in our
search for skinniness, we’ll find that He fulfills His promise to always lead us in His
triumph.

You may need professional Christian counseling or Christian medical expertise to help
you come to terms with seeing yourself through God’s eyes. And don’t expect this to
happen overnight. Healing is often a process. And process indicates time.

Fact #3: He seeks that we fight to love what He has

loved.
He loves you exactly as you are! And He loves you as though you were the only person
on earth. He died with you on His heart. May we live with only Him on ours.

Jenn has come out of a fiveyear battle with bulimia through changes of perspective, “I’ve
stopped looking at myself; stopped trying to control everything. I realized that I was
hurting every aspect of my life. When I was making myself throw up, I realized that I
was saying to God, ‘I know better than You how I should look.’ I can’t say that to Him
any more. He’s made me perfect for His call on my life and my ministry. This includes
what I look like.”

Write on your mirror “Be thou my vision,” or “Let Christ shine through.” Commit
yourself to seeing Christ and His love. Loving ourselves or hating ourselves touches
every part of our lives.

Felicity comments: “Sure, my goal is to be healthy. And I’m still about 20 pounds
heavier than I should be (according to my doctor) for my height and body structure. But
my first goal isn’t to lose those 20 pounds. My first priority is to get right with God. Part
of the healing from my eating disorder comes with maintaining weight in a healthy way,
but most of it comes from my choice to allow Him to heal my heart.”

My journey of pushing aside lies from Satan and holding on to truths from God will be a
lifelong task. Most days I think that eating will always be something I struggle with. I
haven’t had meat for years and can’t eat cheese or other greasy foods without being sick.
But my heart’s desire is a vibrant and growing walk with the Lord, not a smaller size. My
goal is to please Him, not the world. I know that what the world has despised, including
my weight and struggles, are the same things He has chosen to use in my life. I choose to
take hold of the healthy life He has given me.

Originally appeared on Briomag.com. Copyright © 2004 Focus on the Family. All rights
reserved. International copyright secured.

Food for Thought

When it comes to food, college campuses are like
distorted mirrors of larger American culture.
by Marian Eberly , Bonnie Harken

Between five percent and 20 percent of female college students have eating disorders.
Seventy eight percent of college women have binged. About eight percent say they have
made themselves throw up in an attempt to control their weight. About one in 100 college
women is anorexic. At the same time, the rate of obesity is rising rapidly among college
students.

When it comes to food, college campuses are like distorted mirrors of larger American
culture.

What's going on? Clearly, our relationship with food is broken.

When it comes to food, college campuses are like distorted mirrors of larger American
culture. Unhealthy relationships with food plague Americans of all ages — doctors say
that anorexia is increasing rapidly among women in their 30s, and that America's children
are experiencing an epidemic of obesity. On college campuses, these problems are even
more exaggerated.

Where the Problems Start

Part of the problem resides in the cafeteria. I have just moved to a new university, and I
walked into the cafeteria last week and was overwhelmed: there was Chinese food,
hamburgers, a sushi bar … a local Indian restaurant had even set up shop in the school
cafeteria and was serving up spicy vindaloo. A refrigerated case held soda and bottles of
raspberry juice and those scrumptious Starbucks Frappuccinos. There was a salad bar,
yes, but it seemed pitiful and lame compared to all the other delights calling to me. And
best of all, I didn't have to pay for it — or, at least I felt like I didn't have to pay for it. I'd
put a bunch of money in my university account at the start of term, so I could just swipe
my ID card, and, poof, the food was mine. I went for the vindaloo.

It won't take too many visits to the cafeteria before I've gained some weight (the
Freshman 15 doesn't just apply to freshmen) — which means it also won't take too many
visits to the cafeteria for me to feel lousy, or frantic, or determined to try some crazy diet.

"Why do we eat? For nourishment, of course. But also for enjoyment. And sometimes to
make ourselves feel better."

Part of the problem lies, then, in the messages I've been absorbing since the moment I
popped out of the womb. Will the world come to an end if I gain five pounds? No. But I
feel like it will come to an end. I tell myself over and over that the magazine covers and
super-skinny super-models are all spouting lies, but even though I can chant the feminist
critiques of the beauty industry — in fact, even though I believe those critiques — other
messages chant even louder. I'll never get anywhere in the world if I'm not the prettiest
girl in the class and I must be a pathetic slob if I can't discipline myself enough to
withstand those tasty treats.

Why Dealing with Food is Suddenly Much Harder Now

that You're on Your Own
The challenges of eating well at college, then, are legion. For starters, it's suddenly all up
to you. No parents purchasing fruit that you might scoop up off the kitchen counter. And
definitely no parents sitting down with you at dinner to make sure you eat your veggies.
On the other hand, there's no one to check in and see if you're getting enough to eat,
period.

A college classmate of mine was hospitalized around Christmas of our freshman year
because she'd dropped more than 30 pounds — by slicing her diet down to 400 calories a
day (that's three-fourths cup of cheerios, a three-ounce roasted chicken breast, an apple,
and about five dates). No one seemed to notice how little Lisa was eating — or, if anyone
noticed, they didn't know how to broach the subject with her. One of my hallmates later
said she had been worried, but she hadn't wanted to seem nosy.

Also, food is, in psychoanalytic lingo, over determined. That's a fancy way of saying that
food is a symbol that is tied up with lots of different layers of reality. Why do we eat? For
nourishment, of course. But also for enjoyment. And sometimes to make ourselves feel
better. And sometimes to take revenge on parents who withheld love and sustenance from
us. And sometimes because, though we're not hungry at all, the folks around us are eating
and we want to join in. And on and on … food has lots of meanings in our life. So
navigating the cafeteria is complicated because we may have to do some serious talking,
thinking, and praying to figure out why we do — or don't — eat.

Not only did God create your body, but He actually took on a human body and became an
embodied person. How's that for a radical reminder that bodies are very beloved, and
very dear to our God?

Our surrounding culture tells us that our bodies aren't good enough. We need to lose
weight, or put on make-up, or lock ourselves in the gym, or buy a push-up bra … and
then, then we'll be closer to good enough. Of course, the voices that urge these products
and solutions on us are hardly disinterested. Usually they are selling something —
mascara, dieting pills, cellulite reduction cream — that they hope we'll buy. But even
when we don't buy their products, we all too often buy the lies they're spewing.

For that body that you revile — the one you're trying to diet away, or enhance with a
Wonder Bra — was created by God, and God called it good. If you're like me you can
glory in God's good creation when you see a sunrise, or a newborn, or a flower — but not
when you look in the mirror. And yet: not only did God create your body, but He actually
took on a human body and became an embodied person. How's that for a radical reminder
that bodies are very beloved, and very dear to our God?

Sometimes, I tally up all the hours I've spent worrying about weight. It's not a fun
exercise. It is actually an exercise in repentance because those hours — thousands of
hours — spent freaking out about my waste-line could have instead been spent promoting
the Kingdom.

So, What Can We Do?

Unless you are super-spiritually-evolved, you will probably be grappling with the hard,
knotty issues of body image — the basic question of how to be a body well — for the rest
of your life. But you're going to be facing unique challenges having to do with food and
bodies now. Here are a few ideas for how you can make the journey just a little bit
smoother:

• Small Groups: I bet there's a female leader of a Christian group on your campus
who would be just thrilled to start a discussion group about eating and body
image.
• Getting Help: If you suspect that you may be slipping from dieting to an eating
disorder, please go to student health services and ask to talk to someone — a
nurse, doctor, or counselor, preferably a woman. Your college will have a staff
specially trained to help you through an eating disorder.
• Confrontation: If you have a friend whose interactions with food worry you,
bring it up with her, lovingly. (Maybe even show her this article!) And don't
hesitate to talk to someone else — your RA, or someone in health services — if
she dismisses your concern. (After all, it's pretty unlikely that your friend will
 break down on the spot and say You're so right — I am bulimic and I want help!
She's more likely to reassure you and accuse you of overreacting.)
• Prayer: God does not want us to be in bondage to cultural messages about
thinness. He wants us to steward our bodies, yes, and take care of them, through
nutritious eating and exercise, but He doesn't want us to obsess. And if we bring
those obsessions to Him in prayer, He will meet us.