Students'
self-image a subject schools broach
Sunday, December 19, 2004 • By LINDA
LISANTI • The Express-Times
The statistics on anorexia are startling.
According to ANRED, a nonprofit organization that
distributes information on eating disorders, roughly 1
percent of female adolescents have anorexia.
About one out of every 100 women, aged 10 to 20, are
starving themselves.
More than half of teenage girls are, or think they
should be, on diets.
Schools are taking measures to ensure their students
don't become statistics.
In Phillipsburg, prevention begins in the classrooms
where eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, are
discussed as part of high school health classes, said
Student Assistance Counselor Jan Swick.
The high school also runs therapeutic groups for girls,
which include discussions on body image and the media.
Swick said teenage girls are "bombarded with the message
of perfection."
Before she transferred to Phillipsburg High School this
year, Swick worked at North Warren Regional High
School.
There, she said, part of health education was a video
geared toward females that showed how the pictures of models
they see in magazines are all computerized.
"They're being fooled," Swick said.
Sarah Stevens, a specialist in adolescent medicine at
Lehigh Valley Hospital, agrees those images are part of the
problem.
"Look at the magazines," she said. "There is no
overweight girl in any of those. The message is to be thin.
Beauty is thinness."
Another reason why young women are so at risk for eating
disorders, Stevens said, is that their bodies are changing
and their whole concept of self is developing.
That puts them at greater risk for mood issues and
depression, which are at the root of eating disorders, she
said.
"If that's not getting resolved, if they're not happy,
if they're not fitting in, the eating disorder becomes their
focus," she said.
Schools also offer services for students already in the
grip of an eating disorder.
At Freedom and Liberty High schools in Bethlehem, two
mental health workers visit regularly to address any mental
health issues, including eating disorders, explains Kathy
Halkins, a nurse at Liberty.
Depending on severity, some students are referred to
outside groups, she said.
The high schools also run Crossroads, a weekly mentoring
program for students who need an adult to be there for
support.
Halkins said this program works well for students who
are returning to school after being hospitalized for an
eating disorder.
"Just to keep tabs on them," she said.
Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 offers a mental health
program to students in the 13 school districts it serves in
its region.
Jean Parkansky, a management assistant for Resolve
services, said they believe less than 8 to 10 percent of
their total student population may have an eating
disorder.
She said most of those cases are dealt with individually
with the therapists and medical staff employed by the
unit.
As is the case in Bethlehem and Phillipsburg, certain
clients are referred to outside resources.
Stevens said the most important thing schools can do is
help kids feel good about themselves and achieve
success.
Teachers, nurses and coaches also have to be conscious
of any signs of eating disorders, she said.
And Stevens said they must not be afraid "to say to a
kid 'I'm worried about you.' "
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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