Anyone who has tried to get an elliptical machine at the Kresge Fitness Center knows many Dartmouth students are serious about staying in shape. Inside the gym, signs warn overzealous gym-goers against using false names to monopolize cardio machines for the evening.
Not everyone is intent on working out, though. Some students struggle with their weight and react defiantly to the droves of students who turn out at the gym.
Courtney Hinton '05, a member of Students Against the Abuse of Food and Exercise, described herself as "stocky" and said seeing students crowding the gym keeps her away from the fitness equipment.
"I see people going to the gym all the time, and I see the runners, and I get angry, and I want to go eat chocolate or something instead of going to the gym," Hinton said.
Instead, students in good shape are the ones who tend to obsess about their weight most.
Laura Rubinstein, the coordinator of health programs, said that although Dartmouth does not maintain exercise statistics, the College monitors how many people are concerned about their weight.
"Fifty-two percent of students who are at a normal weight based on BMI [body mass index] scales think they are a little overweight and 4 percent think they are a lot overweight," Rubinstein said.
Students expressed mixed opinions as to whether or not male students struggle with body image issues to the extent that their female counterparts do.
"I don't really feel there is as much pressure for guys," Santiago Vallinas '07 said. "It's just something that isn't considered as much [as it is for girls]."
But Margot Hurley '07 believes her male friends experience more pressure than she does. While Hurley feels no pressure to stay in shape, she said her male friends are obsessed with being fit. Hurley discussed one friend who drinks a gallon of milk and goes to the gym every day.
"He's obsessed with the idea that girls like big guys," Hurley said.
National awareness of male body image issues has grown in recent years. Statistics compiled by the National Eating Disorders Association show that at least one million males suffer from eating disorders in the United States.
SAFE president Sarah Hatridge '05 said that while the pressures are not gender specific, there is a difference in the way men and women view their bodies.
"I feel like with guys it's more about being fit," Hatridge said. "They don't talk about the brownies and the ice cream and their weight in the same way."
Students believe the intense and competitive nature of the Dartmouth community compounds broader social pressures to stay thin.
"I feel like people here pride themselves on being good at things. Being well-rounded and having a good body -- maintaining it -- is part of that," Allison Gathany '07 said.
The general athleticism of the campus also contributes to the pressure, students said.
"Dartmouth is a very athletic school, with nearly a quarter of the student body on varsity athletic teams," said Jess Tory '06, a member of the women's varsity squash team. "So I guess that for some, that might be viewed as an indirect source of pressure to stay fit."
