Roughly 30 million Americans will struggle with an eating disorder in their lifetime, which means that you likely have struggled or know someone who has struggled with an eating disorder.
To bring awareness to this issue, ETSU held several events for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.
The various events took place in the Basler Center for Physical Activity and the D.P. Culp University Center from Feb. 20 to Feb. 23 and included things like tabling events, nutrition info sessions, painting, meditation and Operation Beautiful Sticky Notes.
Tuesday was Love Your Body Day, hosted by OASIS, a sexual information outreach group for students. According to Melissa Meadows from ETSU’s Women’s Resource Center, the event was all about promoting body positivity.
“This is the sixth or seventh time we have held this event, and it’s just such a good way to promote some good body love,” Meadows said.
Attendees of the event were able to walk around the Culp Ballroom and visit several tables with helpful information on topics ranging from safe sex to meditation. There was even a relaxation station which Rana Elgazar, an ETSU University Honors Scholar, was able to experience.
“Wow, that was so relaxing, and it’s really motivated me to try incorporating relaxation techniques into my daily life,” Elgazar said.
According to ETSU’s Women’s Resource Center website, the Love Your Body Campaign seeks to respond to the exploitative portrayals of women in the media.
“In response to unhealthy and exploitative images of women in the media, NOW Foundation established the Love Your Body Campaign to promote positive, healthy images of women and girls, protest harmful and offensive advertisements, and raise awareness about women’s health issues.”
ETSU’s Women’s Resource Center in partnership with the Counseling Center will be hosting their annual Take Back the Night event later this semester. This event honors survivors of sexual violence through a candlelit vigil ceremony accompanied by a portion where survivors are offered the chance to share their stories.
According to FMLA President Emily Miles, this event is a really positive experience for all participants.
“We always end the event with a call to action and a message of hope that lets supporters know what they can be doing to prevent sexual assault,” Miles said.
To keep updated on future events visit the Women’s Resource Center website at www.etsu.edu/wrcetsu/.
