By Mackenzie Boyce
No, I don’t care that it’s five p.m. and all you’ve had to eat today is an iced coffee! I’m sure we’ve all heard the constant bragging about who’s eaten the least during the day at some point in our time on a college campus. While it may not be intentional, college students have been ingrained with disordered eating behaviors since the moment their first semester began.
We’ve all come to fear the dreaded “freshman 15,” because apparently gaining weight is the end of the world for any young adult. Gaining weight in college is normal because our bodies shouldn’t look the same as they did when we were 15. Yet the shame behind this fifteen-pound phenomenon is one that we go to extreme lengths to avoid. Students are put under so much pressure to maintain thinness, even though they are beginning life-changing years, and our bodies need to grow up alongside us.
If you ask anyone, they’ll probably tell you the “freshman 15” doesn’t come from food, and the culture surrounding alcohol can create a toxic relationship with our bodies. “I only do shots because it’s less calories,” “I’m not going to eat so I can get drunk faster,” or “I’m pulling trig.” Wearing crop tops doesn’t mean you need to count the calories in a drink. The obsession with eating less and drinking more gives the impression that food isn’t necessary to be “pretty” or “fun.”
Now let’s talk about the normalization of “pulling trig,” aka making yourself throw up. “Pulling trig” is a way people try to get rid of alcohol when their body rejects it. You’ve probably heard someone tell you to just shove your fingers down your throat and you’ll feel better. Self-induced vomiting is a main aspect of bulimia nervosa, a disorder that involves binging and purging food. If we shouldn’t be purging during the day, why do we encourage it when we’re drunk? If college students are supposed to eat less to get drunk faster, and then pull trig, what do our bodies have left to run on?
There is so much competition amongst college men and women when it comes to eating, exercising, and staying thin. It’s almost like a game of who ate the least because they were “too busy.” Hook-up culture dominates the college world, and it makes many women feel like they have to be a certain size to be considered worthy. With the constant reminders of everyone’s intake restriction and the desire to be “thin enough,” it’s no wonder teens and young adults are the most common age group for eating disorders. With the normalization of these behaviors, it’s difficult to distinguish those who are suffering and those who are just participating in common college practices.
What can we do to recognize eating disorders amongst college students and create an environment that doesn’t promote these behaviors? In all honesty, this will never be fully possible with the social pressures of diet culture and thinspo. However, it’s important that we recognize the signs in those around us because what might seem like just another normal diet can actually be a full-fledged disorder. We also need to create an open conversation and address how our own actions can harm the mental and physical health of others. It’s ok to eat three meals per day. It’s ok to gain weight in college. It’s ok to love your body the way it is. Hopefully one day more college campuses will normalize these ideas instead.