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Eating
Disorder Awareness Week Events on Campus
Intuitive
Eating: Creating a Positive Relationship With Your Body and
Food
Monday 3/10; 6:00-7:00 pm
Crossroads Dining Hall, 2415 Bowditch, corner Channing
+ Bowditch
Connie Sobczak, Co-Founder of The Body Positive, will discuss
"intuitive eating" an approach to eating that allows
people to become the experts of their own bodies. Learn the
fundamental principles of making health choices based on trusting
innate wisdom over outside sources. Connie will discuss the
science that supports intuitive eating as an alternative to
dieting, as well as share stories of women who have made the
choice to trust and love their bodies, and how this choice
has positively transformed their lives. Questions and discussion
are encouraged and welcome. Participants must pay for dinner
to attend event.
Eating
Disorders & Positive Body Image Outreach Booth
Tuesday
3/11, Wednesday 3/12 and Thursday 3/13; 11am-2 pm
Upper Sproul
and
Tuesday 3/11, Wednesday 3/12; 4-6 pm
Recreational Sports Facility (RSF)
Outreach booth provides the campus community with information
and resources on eating disorders and positive body image.
Various fact sheets, brochures, resource lists, and brochures
will be made available. UHS staff and health care professionals
will be available to answer questions and provide support.
Are
You Too Fit? When Healthy Exercise Becomes Too Much
Tuesday 3/11; 12-1pm
Tilden Room, 5th floor, ASUC Martin Luther King Jr. Student
Union building
We all know that exercise is good for us, but can there be
too much of a good thing? This presentation discusses the
fine line between healthy exercise and over-doing it, including
the relationship between exercise and eating disorders. Peach
Friedman, Personal Trainer and Education & Outreach Coordinator
for Summit Eating Disorders and Outreach Program, will share
her philosophy for balanced, fun fitness that's about celebrating
our bodies rather than about fixing them.
The
Body and The Arts Workshop
Wednesday 3/12; 4-7 pm
Tilden Room, 5th floor, ASUC Martin Luther King Jr. Student
Union building
This participatory workshop will help you deepen your connection
to your body through simple movement, writing, and drawing
exercises. The workshop will be facilitated by Ashley Adams,
a theatre artist and educator who is creating Heart/Soul/Hair,
an original play about the personal and universal journey
to reclaim our female bodies. No prior experience with the
arts is necessary. With permission of participants, some material
generated at the workshop may be used to develop the script
of Heart/Soul/Hair.
How
to Help a Friend or Loved one with an Eating Disorder
Thursday 3/13; 5-6 pm
University Health Services, Tang Ed Center, 1st Floor
Learn specific guidelines on how to approach and support a
loved one you suspect may be struggling with eating and body
image issues. Facilitated by a local licensed psychologist
specialized in working with all types of eating disorders,
Dr. Jill Rodgers-Quaye will offer advice and resources on
managing and recovering from a potential life-threatening
disease.
Body
Awareness Yoga Class
Friday 3/14; 3-4 pm
Hearst 251
Celebrate all that your body does for you everyday with this
gentle yoga class with instructor Jamila Dunn. We will focus
on cultivating individual internal awareness through breath
work and basic yoga postures. Come explore the joy of movement
and learn easy stress reduction techniques in a serene setting
right here on campus. All experience levels welcome.
What
is an Eating Disorder?
Eating
is one of the most basic human behaviors, but it is controlled
by a multitude of factors, including: appetite and biological
mechanisms related to hunger and satiety; the amount and types
of foods available; family, peer-group, and cultural norms;
social pressures and media images; exercise and fitness; and
emotional/psychological difficulties. Many people have healthy
eating patterns and are not excessively concerned with food,
exercise, or weight, while others' food- and body-related
attitudes and behaviors are very unhealthy (i.e., extreme
calorie restriction, frequent binge-eating, compulsive exercise,
distorted body image) and significantly interfere with their
daily lives.
When present
at a certain level of severity and for a certain amount of
time, these symptoms can meet criteria for the diagnosis of
an eating disorder. Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by self-starvation
and very low body weight. Bulimia Nervosa is characterized
by the cycle of binge eating followed by compensatory behavior
(i.e., vomiting, excessive exercise, laxative use). Binge
Eating Disorder involves compulsive overeating without compensatory
behaviors. Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (ED-NOS)
includes some combination of symptoms of anorexia, bulimia,
and/or binge-eating disorder.
In the
United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million
males have anorexia or bulimia and approximately 18 million
females and six million males have binge eating disorder (Crowther
et al., 1992; Fairburn et al., 1993; Gordon, 1990; Hoek, 1995;
Shisslak et al., 1995). Eating disorders occur among people
of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations,
and socioeconomic groups, and they are not solely about food
and weight. Eating disorders are serious illnesses that arise
from a complex combination of psychological, social, and biological
factors and have potentially devastating complications. However,
there are many treatment resources that can help people with
eating disorders to recover (see below), including those at
UHS.
Helpful
Handouts
Do
you have concerns about the effects of chronic dieting, exercise
obsession, body image and acceptance?
The Tang Center offers a non-judgmental,
confidential place for emotional support on your journey to
healthy eating. Facilitated by a Registered Dietitian and
Clinical Social Worker experienced with disordered eating
behaviors, sessions will focus on group exercises to distinguish
physical vs. emotional eating, challenge distorted thoughts
around food and body, and improve nutritional knowledge for
optimal health.
Food
and Feelings:
An
educational support group for students with eating
issues
Open
to students with all types of eating concerns. Groups
meet on Thursdays, 4-5:30, March 20 - May 1, 2008 at
Tang Center Room 2284. Must sign and commit to the 6
sessions before start date! Space is limited. To reserve
a space or for more information, contact Helen Pak,
RD, at hpak@uhs.berkeley.edu.
(Download
the Food and Feelings flyer)
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