‘As I Am’ campaign hopes to promote body acceptance, eating disorder awareness

The Undergraduate Student Government’s Undergraduate Student Life Committee launched its “As I Am” campaign for eating disorder awareness on campus on Saturday.

Students can participate in the program in a variety of ways, including registering at a "Wellness Walkthrough" to learn about ways to eat nutritiously in the University's dining halls, consulting with campus nutritionist and eating disorders specialist Victoria Rosenfeld orhaving their photos taken in the USG office.

Rosenfeld did not respond to a request for comment.

“In the beginning, I don’t think we really envisioned it as a campaign,” USLC chair Kathy Chow ’17 said. “We were like, ‘How can we help?’ because it’s a problem on campus, especially since Princeton has such a perfectionist culture, and we often socialize over food.”

Ashley Hatcher ’15, a USLC member working on the campaign with Chow, said she has realized eating and body issues are bigger problems than she previously thought.

“I think it’s important to raise awareness so that other students realize that this is a problem that a lot of students have encountered, and for people to realize how they might be contributing to the problem, or how they could solve that problem,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher added that, as long as issues like eating disorders are stigmatized, people will be discouraged from actively seeking help when they need it. Hatcher likened “As I Am” to Mental Health Week in that both initiatives show problems to be more common than people think, as well as encourage open discussion of issues among students.

After identifying concerns with eating and body image on campus as a problem, USLC reached out to University Health Services and the Women’s Center to discuss ways to effectively address the issue.

USLC member Carly Jackson ’16 said that working with UHS helped the committee determine what kinds of projects would be plausible.

“We feel comfortable going to [UHS] if we have questions about what might be triggering, or what might be helpful or unhelpful,” Jackson said.

UHS Eating Disorders Treatment Team Coordinator Robin Boudette said that she hopes to promote a widespread body acceptance, and ultimately, self-acceptance on campus. Boudette added that body dissatisfaction can lead to dieting, and dieting is the universal precursor to eating disorders.

“What we see here on campus is that problems of negative body image and bad body talk really drains students of emotional resources. They have a negative impact on performance and relationships, and really takes away from quality of life,” Boudette explained. “We’re hoping to broaden what’s acceptable in terms of body size, and even celebrate body size diversity in the same way that other forms of diversity are welcomed.”

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Approximately 60 to 70 students visit UHS each year to talk about eating disorders, food, weight or body image,Boudette said. While not all of these students have been diagnosed with eating disorders, each person requires a different level of help, from nutritional counseling to working with medical professionals.

“Over the course of four years, students get well, they recover,” Boudette said. “They use resources on campus and off campus. The majority of our students actually do quite well. So it’s encouraging that they can be free of these issues and problems if they have proper attention and care and support.”

As part of the campaign, USLC has organized guided tours through the dining halls to let students know ways to eat a healthy, balanced diet on campus. Rosenfeld is also offering walk-in office hours for students to stop by and share their concerns or seek advice.

During the week, posters around campus will display anonymous student quotes about their experiences related to eating and/or body image.

In addition, USLC is sharing photos of students holding up signs with their personal answer to the question, “What do you feel about your body and why?”

Deana Davoudiasl ’16, who participated in the photo shoot, said that it is important to show support for students who are dealing with insecurities even if one doesn’t know how to eliminate their pain.

“I feel like body image is something that affects everyone,” Davoudiasl said. “I think it’s really rare that you don’t think about your body at all. I would hope that more students would participate to show solidarity with others who are struggling with serious eating concerns.”

Hatcher said student participation in the campaign has exceeded her expectations so far.

“As it is with any other event, it’s very hard the first time around, to gain support until it’s a recognized event,” Hatcher said. “We received a lot of really incredible stories. People wrote a lot. They didn’t just write little sentences —it was people really sharing their experiences.”

Chow noted that because USLC is a small group, it has been able to finish projects very quickly. While working with UHS or the Women’s Center went smoothly, Chow said that the one difficulty was trying to get the men on campus involved, since eating or body image problems are not just limited to students who identify as female.

Boudette noted that peers have an important role to play in addressing issues related to eating or body image. First of all, students should understand that bad body talk can be destructive, and be careful not to engage in such conversations or to challenge them when the matter does get discussed. Secondly, Boudette added, friends can help their friends who are struggling with eating or body image problems by pointing them to the right resources, such as Directors of Student Life or UHS.