Students suffering from eating disorders have a place to go at Syracuse University, but this week those here to help are trying to get the word out.

In coordination with National Eating Disorders Week, staff at the Health and Counseling Centers are concentrating their efforts on educating and training people in leadership positions on campus, such as resident advisors or those in charge at fraternity and sorority houses, so they will be able to recognize dangerous behavior or know what to do if a student comes to them with a concern, said SU nutritionist Julia Salomon.

Kathleen VanVechten, director of nursing at SU, said the project to inform students is made possible by the University Vision Fund. The fund lends financial support to staff members with innovative ideas.

Informing students of the outlets available to them is important because eating disorders affect many college-age students, VanVechten said.

“Eating disorders are a common problem in the college age group, so they are a common problem on college campuses,” she said.

SU is like any other college with its share of students who struggle with eating disorders and body image problems, Salomon said.

The programs for National Eating Disorders Week began Feb. 19 in Schine Student Center. Each Wednesday, Health Services has a table set up in Schine. Last week Health Services provided pamphlets and information on the various kinds of body types, Salomon said.

Health Services is also working on updating and restocking its health education information about eating disorders and body image concerns, she said.

“We are not really out this year, working with the whole campus,” Salomon said. “We are doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work this year, such as informing those in leadership positions, and next year, we hope to make it bigger.”

Salomon hopes that in the future, SU will develop eating disorder management teams. These groups of health care professionals would get together with students, talk about progress that can be made and then provide services to the student, she said. At SU, the Counseling Center and Health Services collaborate with one another, but the management teams would provide a more synergistic means of helping students, Salomon said.

Laura Kahn, a freshman psychology major, agrees that eating disorders are a problem on campus but is not sure if educating RAs and other leaders on campus is an effective means of combating eating disorders.

“It feels like RAs don’t know us enough to tell if we have an eating disorder,” she said. “They don’t see us eat or anything.”

Students who have concerns about eating disorders should contact the Heath Center at 443-2666 or the Counseling Center at 443-4715.

Published on February 24, 2003 at 12:00 pm