I actually lost weight in college — I switched from a sedentary suburban lifestyle, to walking everywhere at college since I didn’t have a car! Instead I got the “graduation fifteen” — gained 15 pounds after I graduated and got a sedentary office job. I’m working on losing that now. If I could still walk everywhere I needed to go, I wouldn’t need the gym!

I also felt much more secure about my looks in college than before. This had a lot to do with the college I chose to go to, where I found a great, supportive community. I avoided a social scene that was hyper-competitive about looks. I now attend graduate school at a university whose undergrads do have such a social scene. It’s high-pressure and unhealthy. I can avoid it as a graduate student, but undergraduate women get hit hard with the unrealistic beauty standards.

How did your college experience shape how you eat as an adult? Did you basically stick to what you were already doing at home?

It was very nice to have a cafeteria meal plan and not have to cook so we could focus on studying. However, that plus the fact that we don’t have “home economics” in high school these days means that most people my age don’t know how to cook and don’t have much time to.

Did you put on the ‘freshmen fifteen, or was that just a myth for you?

I put on the “sophomore fifteen.” It was because that year my residence hall had free unlimited soda and sugary juice dispensers available 24/7.

Did you end up losing weight in an effort to conform to aesthetic ideals instilled in us on campus? Did you feel like you were under a lot more pressure to conform than you were in high school?

The opposite. I gained weight in college which is a good thing for underweight people. There was much less peer pressure in college than in high school. Almost none. College has a much larger and more diverse population. Among the thousands of classmates, you can choose your own peers.

It seemed like most of the people with eating disorders were in sororities. Interestingly, the Tri Delts in particular.

As a college-age female, I have most certainly experienced the complexities of eating well and staying healthy in a college environment. It is most certainly a careful balancing act- the temptations of late night pizza and fast food, drinking, and all other manners of fun and spontaneous calorie consumption are all very much present on any campus.

I have to say that I think it’s very impressive that a sorority nationally took the initiative to make this program available to college-age women throughout the country. As a member of a Greek organization myself, it is even more affirming to see what awesome things are being accomplished by sororities on the national level. Taking jabs at Tri-Delts for appearing to have eating disorders is simply uncalled for. Readers should celebrate the fact that a group of young women worked together to promote a program that clearly has many benefits to offer college-age women during an important time in their personal development.

Loving yourself the way you are seems like a good idea. However, the reality is if you want to be HEALTHY, you need to be fit. The message should be to love yourself enough to take care of yourself.

I’ve just finished my first year of university, and I certainly felt new pressures surrounding body image and being thin. I was completely in control of my life during high school. Everything was familiar and comfortable in my life. After starting university in a new city far away from home with zero immediate support, I felt completely out of control. The change in lifestyle caused me to put on a few pounds, which terrified me. I soon became obsessed with counting calories, excercising, and restricting my diet in attempt to be thin. It was the onlyt hing I had complete control over during this vulnerable time in my life. Luckily I got help and was able to get back on track before anything got too serious. I still struggle wtih body image, but I think that as I get more accustumed to my new life and surroundings things will only continue to get better.

Whether thin or heavy is not nearly as impotant as being healthy I wish the emphasis was on being heathy and not on body image. The “struggle” should be with staying healthy, not body image.

I hope the NIH focuses on small colleges, too–where most college kids ARE.

I started college back in the early 80’s, before many of us college aged women knew what an eating disorder really was. I did not put on weight until my senior year, when had to work full time to pay for school as a full time student, leaving me no time for exercise. However, my freshman/sophmore year roommate had been diagnosed with anorexia when she was in high school. It was a rollercoaster ride living with her, especially during the second year. She woud alternate between starving and binging whenever she was emotionally distressed. The guy she was dating during this time capitalized on it, and would repeatedly berate her for being fat or lazy whenever he wanted to control her. The times his insults didn’t work, and she didn’t start the starving/eating cycle, he would beat her, guaranteeing the cycle would start all over again. I saw it crush her self-esteem, and I felt helpless to stop it.
I moved out of that environment after three semesters, but I was very sensitized to it afterwards. Looking back on it, I wish there was a program like the one described here that could have supported her. I and our other dormmates did the best we could to help her, but we had no idea how to. Information like this might have saved her the punishment she did to her body, and the punishment she endured at his hands.

I loved college because I did not have the pressure like high school to look “perfect”. People just weren’t as judgemental unless you were in a sorority which I avoided. I was skinny all my life up until my senior year of college when by the time I graduated I had packed on 15 lbs. Since I was young, I was able to lose it all within a year. Fast forward to my mid 30’s and the 15 lbs. have found me again only this time it’s much harder to lose.