Hokie Wellness to spotlight The Body Project during Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Whether you or someone you know is struggling with disordered eating or negative self-image or suffering from an eating disorder, you aren’t alone.

In recognition of Eating Disorder Awareness Week, Feb. 24-March 2, Hokie Wellness is highlighting resources on body image-related issues through posters, social media campaigns, and outreach efforts.

• From Feb. 24- March 2, Hokie Wellness’ weekly Digital Well-being Challenge will encourage self-acceptance and body gratitude.
• On Feb. 27 from 2-4 p.m. in War Memorial Hall, Hokie Wellness will host Destination Wellness, an event to promote wellness before students leave for spring break. It will include a booth dedicated to body gratitude, activism, and eating disorder awareness. 
• Hokie Wellness will promote The Body Project, a workshop that breaks down appearance ideals to promote a healthier relationship with body image.

Eating Disorder Awareness Week was created by the National Eating Disorders Association to raise awareness about eating disorders while providing hope and visibility to those who suffer from them.

“We are using this week to share support resources that are available on an ongoing basis,” said Laurie Fritsch, assistant director of Hokie Wellness. “We want students to know that Hokie Wellness offers resources and workshops throughout the semester, and we encourage them take advantage of these opportunities.”

Eating disorders vs. disordered eating 

Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, are clinically recognized mental disorders. They often start with disordered eating, a less severe counterpart that the National Eating Disorders Association describes as an unhealthy relationship to food and body image that “does not meet the frequency, duration and/or level of psychological impairment thresholds necessary for a diagnosable eating disorder.”

While eating disorders often require specialized medical treatment, disordered eating is easier to correct. Many of Hokie Wellness’ body image-related resources, such as The Body Project, aim to help students recognize and address harmful habits and thought patterns before they become serious.  

The Body Project

The Body Project, an evidence-based workshop series, breaks down appearance ideals to promote a healthier relationship with body image.

In the program, peer educators who have completed the workshop lead two, two-hour sessions over two weeks. Groups are generally made up of eight participants. The conversation-based sessions emphasize body acceptance, peer leadership, personal agency, and social advocacy.

Fritsch said The Body Project can help students understand the roots of body insecurity and approach their relationships to body image with practicality and gratitude. 

“Someone is not going to walk into a Body Project workshop hating their body and come out loving it,” said Fritsch, “but they could come out feeling more neutral, thinking, ‘I may not love everything about my body, but I can be grateful for it.’”

Emma Ryan and Amy Priester are Body Project peer facilitators. They both completed The Body Project as first-year students and are now seniors.

Priester said hearing her peers talk openly about their insecurities surrounding self-image was eye-opening. She described thinking, “Oh, OK, I'm not crazy. Everyone is really vulnerable to this. Everyone has the same kind of thoughts and anxieties.”

She said The Body Project helped her view her body through a lens of functionality, which has helped her be more grateful for it. 

“It promotes taking care of your body,” she said. “You need your body to live, and if your body is doing well and has fuel in it, you're going to do well.”

“When it comes to body image, sometimes you don't really want to talk about it,” said Ryan. “But the way Body Project makes it a normal conversation has made me more open and less tense about my negative body image.”

The Body Project equips participants with tools for recognizing and correcting unhealthy thought patterns. Ryan and Priester said these skills help them on a regular basis.

Priester said that when she has a negative thought about her body, it’s easier for her to put it into perspective and move on. 

“If you zoom out and reframe your thoughts,” she said, “it's going to be easier to handle.”

Ryan and Priester both referenced a mantra they learned through the workshop series: “I want the way that I look to be the least interesting thing about me.”

A ripple effect

Hokie Wellness post-workshop surveys between 2021-23 showed strong responses to The Body Project from 636 students across 80 workshops. 

• After the workshop, 94 percent of students reported above average or excellent understanding of university and national resources, compared to 22 percent before.
• 98 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “The workshop contained information I plan to use for my well-being."
• Before the workshop, 18 percent reported preparing for or implementing a behavior change. After the workshop, that number increased to 94 percent.

“The Body Project not only helps people increase their awareness about the appearance ideal, but it gives them tools to help others stop perpetuating it,” said Fritsch. “It really has a ripple effect.” 

“My biggest take away was that we are all dealing with similar situations,” said Ryan. “It made me realize that we should be lifting each other up instead of judging ourselves and judging each other.”

Fritsch said Hokie Wellness’ primary goal for Eating Disorder Awareness Week is to help students who are struggling know where to go for help. Whether that’s helping connect students with body image insecurity to The Body Project or encouraging students who may be suffering from an eating disorder to pursue medical treatment, the week is an opportunity for students to find a way forward.

The Body Project and the week's activities are not treatments for eating disorders. If you may be suffering from an eating disorder, or if you have been diagnosed or treated for an eating disorder in the past and are still struggling, please contact your health care provider.

To sign up for the Body Project, visit Hokie Wellness’ Body Project page. To learn more about resources for body image issues, disordered eating, and eating disorders, visit the Hokie Wellness resource page.