Study examines eating issues

Preoccupied with food. Terrified of being overweight. Feeling guilty after eating even a healthy meal. These are among the problems experienced by many of the women on Penn's campus, according to a recent survey conducted by Penn's Advisory Team for Eating Concerns. The survey, whose results are not scientifically valid since they do not draw on the entire pool of female Penn students, found that nearly 15 percent of the women on campus have some symptoms of eating disorders. The results of the 31-question survey indicated that 25 to 40 percent of the studied females are "preoccupied with food" and "terrified of being overweight," while more than 20 percent of the females indicated that "food controls their lives" and that they "feel guilty after eating." The advisory team -- composed of a doctor, a nutritionist, a psychologist and a psychiatrist, all University-affiliated -- also includes a Dining Services nutritionist and an athletic trainer, both of whom serve as consultants to the group. Working from February to April, the team surveyed 545 females in four areas: students in undergraduate nutrition courses, sororities, varsity athletes and clients of Penn's Counseling and Psychological Services. No significant differences were seen between the individual groups' results. But Marilyn Ross-Bradford, a staff doctor at Student Health Services and part of the advisory team, explained that the percentage of Penn students suffering from symptoms of eating disorders is low in comparison to nationwide trends garnered from a national study. Comparing the two sets of results, however, is problematic since the national survey used scientific polling methods, an approach the Penn survey chose not to use. More than 36,000 people were questioned for the yearly national survey -- called the Eating Attitudes Test -- which found that 34.5 percent of the nation's females had symptoms of eating disorders in 1997. The survey used by the Penn advisory team was more in-depth than the national survey, though, and included five questions designed to separate the results of those respondents who previously suffered from eating disorders from those who had not. The individual results of the Penn survey were kept confidential and only the compiled survey results were released. The advisory team plans to address the survey's findings by working with peer educators from Guidance for Understanding Image, Dieting and Eating to facilitate body image education for students. The team also sponsors talks for women's and men's athletic teams, nutrition classes and sororities. Team psychologist Margaret Fichter added that eating disorders can manifest themselves as a way for people to feel in control, and that they are a "faulty way of solving problems." Eating disorders often result in feelings of guilt, Fichter explained. She added many times people with eating disorders are "talented, gifted people" who "cannot value themselves as whole beings." But College and Engineering senior Janelle Brodsky -- who recently wrote a guide entitled Things We Wish We Knew: Empowering College Women About Our Bodies and Food this summer -- said that although it might spark a dialogue on the issue of eating disorders, the survey was "inconclusive." She explained that since she thought the survey sample was "skewed," only using women from the four groups, "what you lose in [the survey] is your normal Penn student category."