Barrett dining hall staffers prepare fresh food on Oct. 29, 2014. Eating Disorder Awareness is a club at ASU dedicated to helping students deal with eating disorder issues. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)It started in eighth grade. Dietetics and psychology sophomore Katie Gandee never had a good body image, but she finally realized that in order to be popular, she must have the perfect body.
Gandee helped found Eating Disorder Awareness in late August to help other students overcome eating disorders. One way she does this is through sharing her struggle with anorexia.
"It finally clicked in my head, 'Hey, the popular kids, the kids the people want to be around, are these really pretty, skinny girls,'" Gandee said.
Gandee said she stopped eating breakfast and started counting calories.
"I started this competition with everyone around me to lose the most weight, eat the least calories," she said. "My life quickly stopped being about my grades and my relationship with my friends and family and more about 'Am I the thinnest person in the room?'"
The summer after eighth grade, Gandee said she was hospitalized in a program where she worked with therapists and nutritionists for eight hours a day and went home to sleep.
Gandee said she did not give herself enough time to recover and still constantly thought about her body.
"I kept thinking about my weight," she said. "I kept trying to make it perfect."
ASU counseling pamphlets near the ASU Counseling Services offices in the Student Services Building in Tempe. (Photo by Andrew YbanezGandee said the issue of eating disorders is especially relevant on college campuses, where the stress of fitting in is high.
"There’s just so much pressure in society and in college specifically and even more at our college because it's ASU," she said. "We’re always wearing tank tops and short shorts, and there’s just so many people here. There’s that pressure to stand out in a sea of 80,000 students."
Ninety-five percent of those with eating disorders are between the ages 12 and 25.8, according to statistics from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
A survey of 185 college students found that 58 percent of women felt pressure to be a certain weight, and 44 percent of those dieting had a weight considered normal.
The group already has the backing of different ASU professionals, including a dietitian, nutritionist and psychology professor, Gandee said.
When political science junior Annie Souza first came to ASU as a freshman, she noticed a lot of thin, ideal-looking girls. She started running every day and became obsessed with eating healthy.
"I was exercising and running every day, and it seemed like it was really healthy, but it became this really overwhelming obsession where if I didn’t get an hour or two of running every day, I’d feel so awful about myself, and if I did eat a cookie I would just feel awful," she said.
Souza finally reached out to a therapist after a friend suggested to her twice that she might have an eating disorder.
"I didn’t want to diagnose myself, but I was like, 'I have an eating disorder,'" she said.
Souza helped co-found the club with Gandee and is helping to plan a panel discussion in November with ASU professionals and members from the executive board, Souza said.
Political science junior Annie Souza (left) and dietetics and psychology sophomore Katie Gandee (right) pose for a portrait near the Barrett, The Honors College dining hall. Annie Souza and Katie Gandee co-founded the Eating Disorder Awareness club at ASU. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)"People are curious about eating disorders and people's experiences and so we’ll be able to share ours and have a raw conversation about it," she said.
The group also plans to have these professionals come and speak at general meetings, Souza said.
"We just have a lot of different elements that I think will be able to help different people where they’re at," she said.
Souza said the group aims to eliminate negative feelings concerning eating disorders.
"There’s a huge stigma surrounding mental health and also misinterpretation of eating disorders, so we want to communicate that and help people understand what they really are about and how real they are, especially in the residential communities," she said.
The organization plans to educate about disorders that are not considered anorexia or bulimia, known as other specified feeding or eating disorders, the one Souza overcame.
Souza said she feels this type of disorder is not easily recognizable because people are becoming more health conscious and calorie-obsessed, as evident by the new Health app in iOS 8. However, this behavior is not always healthy.
"I’m very wary of the way we talk about nutrition and the way we talk about counting calories," she said. "I think you need to listen to your body, and if you’re really concerned about it, talk to a dietitian; they know what they’re talking about and they’re willing to help."
Marketing sophomore Ashley Hyland helped found the group with Souza and Gandee and now serves as its vice president.
"I think it’s really important, because eating disorders are so prevalent on college campuses, but people kind of neglect them," she said.
It is important to call attention to the issue so people afraid of the stigma can speak out and get treatment, Hyland said.
"We think by spreading awareness about the symptoms, not only will it help people who are already diagnosed or know about eating disorders find a place to find allies and support," she said.
Reach the reporter at savannah.harrelson@asu.edu and follow her on Twitter @savannahleeh
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