OSU hosts National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Oklahoma State University’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is kicking off on Feb. 19 and will feature several awareness events, including a panel discussion, for students, faculty and staff
Licensed psychologist and senior clinical counselor at the OSU Student Counseling Center, Tamara Richardson, Ph.D., said the purpose of the National Eating Disorder Awareness week is to raise awareness about ways in which we unintentionally promote the messages that contribute to the high rates of body image shame and disordered eating found in the college student population.
“OSU’s theme this year is ‘live life in full color’,” Richardson said. “Our goal is to educate people on what it means to be truly healthy by challenging the unrealistic black and white standards of beauty. We want to empower our students to recognize that beauty and self-worth comes from all shades of color.”
From 3-7 p.m. on Feb. 19, awareness tables will feature the “Redefine Beauty Wall” at the Colvin Center, Bennett Hall, the Kerr-Drummond Mezzanine and the Griffith Center, where several OSU departments, including Residential Life, University Health Services,the Wellness Center and Student Counseling Services, will be handing out crayons as a symbolic reminder that beauty can be seen in all shades of color.
The events will continue with a life-size Barbie display from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on February 24, when students, faculty and staff can go to the Student Union to learn about Barbie’s effect on society’s unrealistic standard for beauty.
Then, a panel discussion will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Union Little Theater, and feature four speakers, who will be discussing how to support someone with a body image or eating disorder struggle.
Panelists include professor and researcher Timothy Baghurst, Ph.D., who will focus on the often-overlooked body image issues that males encounter with Muscular Dysmorphia, sometimes referred to as Adonis Complex.
Another panelist, Victoria Renard, will share tools that helped her recover from an eating disorder and overcome pressures to be thin in the performance/acting industry. Renard currently serves as the Oklahoma Eating Disorders Association Executive Director.
Siblings, Virginia Sellers, M.S., CPT and John Sellers, Personal Trainer, will discuss their family’s strengths and struggles in the development and recovery of Virginia’s eating disorder.
“I think it will be of special interest to student athletes and anyone in the fitness industry, since panelists will discuss how the very behaviors they were utilizing in an effort to improve their life and body image actually served as behaviors that eventually made them sick by contributing to the development of obsessive thoughts, emotional distress, and eating disorders,” Richardson said.
Extra credit slips will be available for students at the event, as well as spirit points for those students in Greek life.
For more information on the National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, please contact the Student Counseling Center in SU 320 or at 405-744-5472. To learn more about America’s Healthiest Campus, visit AmericasHealthiestCampus.com.
Story by Susan Occhipinti