Eating Disorders Awareness Week will be hosted by Tech from Sunday to next Saturday. “We say stop, take a breath, and for one week in the year, let’s only weigh the size of our hearts, not the size of our hips,” said Lynn Grefe, CEO National Eating Disorders Association.
In conjunction with NEDA, Tech will host a week of events dedicated to the awareness and prevention of eating disorders.
“I hope for people to become more aware, to get help if needed, and to just have fun,” said Cynthia Bryant, Counseling Center assistant director.
Eating Disorders Awareness Week is a campus-wide effort involving several departments: the Counseling Center, the Women’s Center, Greek Life, Residential Life, Health Services, the Fitness Center, the Ecology Department, and the School of Agriculture.
“I like putting different departments together. We hope to have fun and get some people involved,” Bryant said.
The main event is the EveryBODY fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 23 in the RUC Multipurpose Room. The fair will include information tables, dancing demonstrations, food samples, and recipes for healthy living.
The School of Agriculture’s Waters Organic Farm will have some of their organic vegetables available to sample. Ruby Tuesday’s has also partnered with Tech, donating free food samples during the fair.
The Fitness Center will host a fact-or-fiction section about eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, and their harmful effects.
“Batman and Robin used to be skinny. Now they wear muscular costumes,” Bryant said. “If we are aspiring to people in the media, not only have they maybe been worked on, but the airbrushing can’t be replicated.”
Eating disorders are a very serious problem and manifest in a variety of ways. The EveryBODY fair is a great way to learn more about eating disorders, warning signs and the risks involved.
The Counseling Center will offer free eating disorder screenings from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1-3 p.m. on Feb. 25 in RUC Room 307. The screenings are also available on the Counseling Center’s page of Tech’s website.
“One thing we are trying to promote this week is ‘do just one thing.’ Come to the fair, send an anonymous operation beautiful note, help a friend, refer a friend, or take a screening,” Bryant said.
Operation beautiful’s slogan is “ending fat talk one anonymous post-it at a time,” and that sums it up well. For more information, go to operationbeautiful.com.
For more information about the EveryBODY fair, go to the Counseling Center in RUC Room 307 or email cbryant@tntech.edu. For more information about eating disorders go to www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
