February 24, 2005

Purdue to launch Celebrating EveryBODY! wellness campaign

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University will conduct a Celebrating EveryBODY! wellness campaign on Monday (Feb. 28) through March 4 in recognition of National Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Week.

The campaign is designed to promote self-esteem by encouraging individuals to challenge conventional notions of beauty. Events during the week will include promotional displays in 25 campus buildings, a panel discussion on March 1 by eating disorder experts and a Fearless Friday campaign on March 4.

All of the events are free and open to the public.

Celebrating EveryBODY! is sponsored by the Purdue University Student Health Center's Student Wellness Office and Students for Healthy Body Acceptance and Positive Esteem (SHAPE).

"According to National Eating Disorders Association statistics, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States are currently battling with eating disorders, and an additional 25 million are struggling with binge-eating disorders," said SHAPE president Lindsey Kerr, who is a senior food and nutrition major at Purdue.

"Because of the secretiveness and shame associated with eating disorders, many cases probably are not recorded. With the Celebrating EveryBODY! campaign, we hope to increase campuswide awareness of these very important issues, while at the same time encouraging self-esteem in our students, faculty and staff."

Celebrating EveryBODY! will start with the posting of "Tree of Feelings" displays in buildings throughout campus beginning Monday (Feb. 28). The displays, created by Purdue students whose lives have been affected by body dissatisfaction issues, will challenge individuals to evaluate their attitudes regarding physical beauty and the human body.

The campaign continues at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (March 1) in the Meredith Hall dining room, where a panel of experts from Purdue will discuss eating and body image issues.

Among those scheduled to speak are Kerr, SHAPE adviser and dietician Anne Mahon of the Student Wellness Office, Becky Taylor of Counseling and Psychological Services, and peer educator Jami Cates. Cates is a graduate student in the Department of Communication.

The panel discussion, which is open to the public but designed for University Residences residence assistants, also will feature an individual in recovery from an eating disorder.

Celebrating EveryBODY! will conclude with Fearless Friday on March 4. That event will feature the distribution around campus of pieces of candy attached to fliers that discourage what Kerr said is American society's unhealthy demand for thinness.

For more information regarding this and other Student Wellness Office campaigns, contact the office at (765) 494-WELL (9355) or visit the office's Web site.

Writer: Aaron Martin, (765) 496-3133, martinac@purdue.edu

Sources: Anne Mahon, (765) 496-2391, amahon@purdue.edu

Lindsey Kerr, kerrl@purdue.edu

Sue Abney, Student Wellness Office nutrition educator, (765) 494-1716, nsabney@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Media are welcome at the events. Contact Anne Mahon of the Student Wellness Office at (765) 496-2391, amahon@purdue.edu to make arrangements.

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