Food is a central part of the college experience for many students. Study breaks, Tiger Food and late night Wa-runs are staples of campus life. For other students, however, eating can prove to be a much more problematic activity. According to a recent survey conducted by Princeton's Eating Concerns Peer Educators (ECPE) 9 percent of respondents reported having eating disorders. Even more startlingly, 53 percent of those students developed those problems while at Princeton.
The results of the survey are disturbing, though not completely surprising. In the past decade, eating disorders have been widely publicized in the national media, with much attention being focused on its prevalence among young, high-achieving women. While the ECPE's results are hardly unprecedented, they are important in that they bring the reality of eating disorders home and present a compelling case for the University to refocus its time and attention on this urgent issue.
First, the administration must work with ECPE and University Health Services to increase awareness of eating disorders and the resources available to treat them. According to the survey, Princeton students have a generally low level of knowledge about these issues. This is unacceptable. Students must be educated about eating disorders in order to help their friends and, many times, to also help themselves. With increased funding and support, information about eating disorders can be better publicized through ECPE study breaks, RCA group discussions and educational programs during Freshmen Orientation Week. The ECPE is currently working on ways to accomplish such goals — the administration should publicly join with these students to target this issue and reach out to students.
In addition to education, the University should focus attention on the quality of counseling on campus. In fact, eating disorders often result from stress and other psychological factors that can be targeted and treated through counseling. The University should ensure that the number of professional counselors available for students is sufficiently high, so that no one seeking counseling should ever wait longer than one or two weeks for an appointment. Students should also be well-informed of the counseling resources available and encouraged to actively seek them out.
With the release of the eating attitudes and behaviors survey, the University has an important opportunity to demonstrate a concrete commitment to student health. This is one issue that we hope the administration will take seriously — both through talk and through actions.
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