EUGENE, Ore. -- (Feb. 14, 2012) - The University of Oregon's Healthy Campus Initiative is focusing on "positive body image" this week in a campaign meant to help UO faculty, staff and students feel comfortable with their appearance.
"All Sizes Fit" features a week’s worth of displays, presentations and activities that promote acceptance of body shapes while raising awareness about eating disorders and body dysmorphia - the preoccupation with an imagined or minor abnormality.
“Media messages such as advertising and celebrity spotlights help our culture define what is beautiful and what is ‘good,’” said Keith Van Norman, UO health promotion marketing manager, in announcing the week’s activities. “These outside influences have caused there to be, on average, 10 million people in the United States who struggle with a clinically diagnosed eating disorder.”
Americans spend more than $40 billion annually on dieting and diet-related products - roughly the amount that the federal government spends on education each year. Among males, the drive for “masculinity” is emerging among ever-younger age groups: Seven percent of 12th grade boys have used steroids to become more muscular.
All Sizes Fit organizers say that people with negative body images are more likely to develop eating disorders and to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem and obsession with weight loss. Positive body image is the celebration and appreciation of one’s natural body shape.
The leadership for the second annual event was provided by Peer Health Educators, a student program in the UO Health Center’s Health Promotion Department. The program counters society’s preoccupation with beauty standards that are unrealistic and potentially unhealthy. The event is supported by the Counseling and Testing Center, the Student Recreation Center, Fraternity and Sorority Life, UO Housing and the University Health Center.
Highlights of the All Sizes Fit campaign, which continues today through Friday, include:
- Free yoga and zumba classes for all faculty, staff and students.
- A showing of the yet-to-be-released documentary “Miss Representation.” Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film illustrates how mainstream media contribute to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence in America.
- A lecture by Patrick Bergstrom on “body dysmorphic disorder” and the drive for physical perfection. The former college lacrosse athlete was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder in which he all but gave up food and was told that without help he would be dead within a year.
A full list of the week's activities and presentations is available on the All Sizes Fit website or Facebook page.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cooper, UO media relations, 541-346-8875, mattc@uoregon.edu
SOURCE: Keith Van Norman, UO health promotion marketing manager, 541-346-2750, kvnorman@uoregon.edu
Note: The University of Oregon is equipped with an on-campus television studio with satellite uplink capacity, and a radio studio with an ISDN phone line for broadcast-quality radio interviews.