Eating Disorder Awareness Week

     Our Panhellenic Council for the Greek community (pictured below) put on an Eating Disorder Awareness week the week of March 4-8.

Our Panhellenic Council wanted to put on this week because they felt as though eating disorders are a big issue for many and wanted to bring attention to the cause. To get the week started, the ladies released a video talking about eating disorders, the statistics, and what we should be doing now. 

The Greek women on campus got involved by passing out bows to wear throughout the week to raise awareness.  While passing out the bows, they explained to people what they were for, brought attention to the cause, and talked about eating disorders and how they are out there. Over the course of the week the women were wearing the bows as a reminder that you should be kind to yourself and others.

On Wednesday during the week, there was an Eating Disorder Awareness panel where people could participate in an open discussion and have questions answered about eating disorders. Sitting on the panel was Brooke Parker- a dietitian for Utah State University. Brooke has specialized in eating disorders for nine years and works with local therapists and physicians in caring for out-patient eating disorder individuals. Another guest was Kelly Morse who helps with the therapy aspect of eating disorders. She has a master’s degree in her field and has been practicing in a variety of specialties to give greater understanding, expertise, and effectiveness to the therapeutic process. The third member on the board was Eri Bentley who works for the Universities Counseling and Psychological service. She is a licensed Psychologist and helps individuals in therapy who have had problems with eating disorders.  

Another activity that was organized during the week was an Instagram campaign.

 During the week, the sorority women were asked to create “I am” statements or statements promoting a positive body image and take a picture with the statements. All of the pictures can be found on Instagram with the hashtag #bekindtoyourself. This was a very effective tool because it got many of the women thinking about positive ideas they had to offer and helped to get the word out.

The week was a success and many people are now aware of eating disorders and the effects they can have on people. The women learned many concepts from this week, but the main one being that you need to be kind to yourself and others and that a weight does not define who you are.