Cynthia Whitehead-LaBoo Ph.D., Director of Emory University's Eating Disorders Program, will be speaking on the multicultural aspects of body image and eating disorders this Thursday in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Whitehead-LaBoo's lecture, entitled "Does Everybody Hate Their Body?" will address the similarities and differences in body image and eating behaviors among people of different ethnic groups, gender and sexual orientations.
"Bringing in a national speaker allows students to focus on this issue for a week," co-coordinator of the College's Eating Disorders Prevention, Education, and Treatment Program Marcia Herrin said.
The Eating Disorder Prevention program will also be holding a seminar on what the College does for sufferers of eating disorders on Thursday morning, which will be open to the public.
Up to one in five women attending elite American universities may suffer from an eating disorder, according to some estimates, and Herrin hopes that Eating Disorders Awareness Week will help to diminish the number.
"Our hopes are always that the programs we are doing this week will encourage worried friends and even sufferers themselves to come forward," Herrin said.
The traditional image of an anorectic or bulimic is that of a white, middle class, heterosexual female, but recent reports from psychologists indicate that this conception no longer applies to modern America.
"I think that the stereotype is changing because the stereotype is no longer true," Herrin said. "Into the new millennium we see evidence that eating disorders are spreading into amazing areas." She noted that eating disorders have become more prevalent in men and women of varying socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, as well as in those of different sexual orientations.
"It is always helpful to bring someone in from a different perspective," Herrin said. "Coming from Emory, [Whitehead-LaBoo] has a lot more experience with students from other ethnic backgrounds."
The Dartmouth College Eating Disorders Prevention, Education, and Treatment Program provides a network within which concerned students can seek help. Herrin herself co-leads a student support group each term that focuses on body images and eating concerns and provides both education and therapy for members.
"Students find it extremely helpful -- it makes them feel more normal to meet with students who are suffering in a similar way," Herrin said.
Eating Disorders Peer Advisors, students trained in this area of counseling, are also available to students via BlitzMail and provide confidential guidance and consultation for students.
Whitehead-LaBoo will be arriving one day early on Feb. 3 to speak to specific members of the community including health service staff-members, athletic trainers, student peer advisors, administrators and professors, before her keynote address on Thursday.
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week begins Feb. 6, but is being observed this week by the College in order to avoid possible conflicts presented by the annual Winter Carnival.
