Introduction
THE NEED FOR EATING-DISORDER RELATED SERVICES
ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES
A ttending college for the first time
is both an exciting and challenging
time for many young adults as they learn
to navigate the adult world and balance
freedom with responsibility. They are
offered more choices than ever before,
but with this new found freedom and
responsibility comes additional pres-
sures and stresses. As demonstrated in
the 2007 Anxiety Disorders Association
of America report, An Audit of Mental
Health Care at U.S. Colleges and Universi-
ties, the increased pressure and stress may
lead to mental health problems among
college students and a greater need for
campus mental health services. This is
also a period of development in which
disordered eating is likely to arise, resur-
face or worsen for many young men and
women. Full blown eating disorders typi-
cally begin between 18 and 21 years of
age. (Hudson, 2007) Out from under the
watchful eye of parents and family, eating
attitudes and behaviors can change and
even become dangerous without anyone
noticing. Social pressure to make friends,
have romantic relationships and achieve
academically can lead to maladaptive
coping mechanisms in the form of disor-
dered eating. Our current cultural climate
idealizing thinness and placing emphasis
on weight as a primary indicator of health
only contributes to fears of gaining weight.
Although some students will experiment
with dieting and escape unscathed, 35%
of “normal” dieters progress to pathological
dieting. Of those, 20–25% progress to
partial or full–syndrome eating disorders
(Shisslak & Crago, 1995). Given that eating
disorders are the mental illness with the
highest mortality rate (Arcelus, 2011), early
detection, intervention and treatment is
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