What is Body Image? What are Eating Disorders? What Causes Eating Disorders? Tips for Critical Viewing of the Media Strategies for Dealing with Eating Disorders Tips for a Healthy Body Image M.A.I.D. Technique for Engaging Residents Resources

1. Body Image
ROBERT C. P. STEINER
GRADUATE HONORS HOUSE DIRECTOR

2. Agenda
 What is Body Image?
 What are Eating Disorders?
 What Causes Eating Disorders?
 Tips for Critical Viewing of the Media
 Strategies for Dealing with Eating Disorders
 Tips for a Healthy Body Image
 M.A.I.D. Technique for Engaging Residents
 Resources

3. What is Body Image?
Body Image is Made up of Two Components
1. How You Perceive Your Body
2. What You Feel About That Perception

4. Factors That Contribute to Body Image
 Family
 Children’s Toys & Fairy Tales (Disney)
 Friends
 The Media

5. Moving Towards a Positive Body Image
Interesting Facts:
 25 years ago, the avg. female model weighed 8% less than the
avg. American Woman
 Today, the avg. model weighs 23% less than the avg. American
Woman
 For men, the avg Playgirl centerfold has shed about 12 lbs of
fat while putting on over 12 lbs of muscle over the past 25 years
What is your Healthy Weight?
Link

6. What are Eating Disorders?
The two most common eating disorders are
 Anorexia Nervosa (Self-Stavation)
 Bulimia (Binging & Purging)
 Some consider compulsive overeating a disorder

7. Signs of Eating Disorders
 Spend a lot of Time Thinking About Eating, Food,
Weight, & Body Image
 Often Feel “fat” When their Weight is Normal or Below
normal
 Feel Uncomfortable After Eating a Normal Sized Meal
 Often Feel Anxious When Eating Around Others
 Make Judgments About Themselves and How They
Control What They Eat
 Believe That Others Are Judging Them By What They
Eat

8. What Causes Eating Disorders?
 Factors Contributing to Eating Disorders
 Cultural & Psychological Issues
 Personality Traits
 Learned Behaviors
 Sometimes Biochemical Imbalances
People with eating disorders are often subject to Depression,
Anxiety, and Low Self-Esteem.

9. Media Images Past & Present

10. Media Images Past & Present

11. Media Examples
America’s Next Top Model Audition
Link
America’s Next Top Model
Link

12. Tips for Critical Viewing of the Media
Media Messages About Body shape and Size Will Only Affect
the Way We Feel About Ourselves If We Let Them
To Be a Critical Viewer of Media
 All Media Images are Constructions, Not Reality
 Advertisement Have Been Carefully Constructed With an
Intent to Send a Very Specific Message
 Advertisements are Created for One Thing: To Convince
You To Buy Something
 They Create their Message Based on What they Think You
Want to See
 We Can Choose A Filter that Protects Our Self-Esteem

13. Strategies for Dealing with Eating Disorders
If You Starve (Restrict) or Fast
 Learn what is a healthy weight for you. Then find out how many servings of
the different food groups are needed to achieve that weight. Make a daily
meal and snack plan and stick to it whether hungry or not.
If You Binge & Purge:
 Work toward ending the cycle of binging and purging, feeling guilty,
dieting, getting too hungry, and Binging again. Increase the amount of
calories in your diet and decrease the amount of calories in your binges
If you Overeat/Binge:
 Buy limited amounts of food/ Don’t shop when Hungry/ Avoid Impulse
Buying/ Stabilize your eating habits/ Eat Slowly/ Keep healthy snacks
handy/ Stop eating as soon as you feel full

14. Tips for all Types of Eating Disorders
Learn About Good Nutrition
 Get a copy of ACHA’s Brochure Eating 101: The Basics of
Good Nutrition
Finding Your Triggers
 Find the triggers that spur your urges to binge, starve, or
otherwise abuse food. You can reprogram your thoughts and
plan other activities
Accepting That Setbacks are Part of Progress
 Look at them as opportunities to learn more about your eating
habits. Feeling guilty only sets the stage for longer relapses

15. Tips for a Healthy Body Image
1. Attend to your bodily cues for Hunger & Satiation
2. Enjoy all foods.
3. Use the food pyramid as a guide
4. Eat for enjoyment
5. Try New Foods
6. Keep Nutrient-dense food readily available
7. Avoid the Good/Bad food trap
8. Focus less on Body Weight & Shape and more on
inner self

16. Engaging a Resident
M.A.I .D.
 M = Misery, Sadness, Change in Mood, etc…
 A = Alienation, Isolation, Not Spending Time with
Friends
 I = Inefficiency, Not Being Effective In Class,
Athletics, & Other Activities
 D = Disturbance, Focus on Eating/Body Image is
Getting in the Way of Other Parts of Life

17. Resources
 University Counseling Clinic (UCC)
 C.E.T.C. Counselor Education Training Center
 Overeaters Anonymous
 National Eating Disorders Organization