The College Health Service is addressing students' concerns on student nutrition this week during its second annual Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
Marcia Herrin, co-chair of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, said eating disorders are "definitely a problem" at Dartmouth.
"We know that each term there are about 50 students getting some help," said Herrin, who is also coordinator of the Nutrition Education Program. "There are more who haven't recognized it or aren't ready" to deal with eating disorders, she said.
Events began last night with a speech by Dr. Hilary Coons, a psychologist and local expert on eating disorders. Coons discussed the causes of eating disorders, what sustains them and how to break the eating disorder cycle.
The video, "Dying to be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story" will be presented tonight at 7 p.m. at Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. The film dramatizes the effects of an eating disorder on Pena's life.
Tomorrow night at 8 p.m., Pena will speak in 105 Dartmouth Hall.
Pena, a lawyer and athlete, developed her eating disorder because of pressure to lose weight in her senior year as an undergraduate at Harvard University, according to a College press release. Pena continued to struggle with her eating disorder while she trained for the 1984 Olympics and established her law practice.
Herrin said Pena competed against Dartmouth athletes while an undergraduate at Harvard and is eager to speak to students about her experience in dealing with her eating disorder.
"There's hope for students with eating disorders. People can get better," Herrin said. "Pena's living testimony to that."
Experts will answer students' questions about eating disorders at the Eating Disorders Awareness Drop-In Day on Thursday, Herrin said. The question-and-answer session will be held in Thayer Dining Hall's Tindle Lounge.
Herrin said eating disorders are not limited to women, and that the rates of eating disorders among men are growing. The session on Thursday will include professors who will address this concern, she said.
Students will also be able to take a self-assessment test to determine whether or not they have an eating disorder, Herrin.
"It's an interesting test even if you don't have an eating disorder," Herrin said. "It tells students who have friends with eating disorders what they should look for or help with."
On Sunday at 4 p.m., a performance titled "Eat Your Heart Out" will be presented in Brace Commons by members of Harvard's Eating Concerns Hotline and Outreach, followed by a panel of Dartmouth and Harvard students and college eating disorders specialists.
Herrin said the organizers of Eating Disorder Awareness Week are hopeful that students from all across campus will be interested in the week's events.
"We wanted a variety of events which would appeal to students who have a variety of academic and personal interests," she said.
