Gianna Cilluffo ’22 and Cecilia Murphy ’22
“Lifting weights makes women huge. FALSE. Eating cupcakes makes women huge,” reads the sign on the Episcopal Academy weightroom’s office window. Messages like these are too often overlooked in our everyday language. Even small statements, like this sign, can be insensitive and triggering to those struggling with and recovering from eating disorders, and when combined with the constant pressures of social media and toxic culture, they can amount to serious harm.
According to Mayo Clinic, “Eating disorders are serious conditions related to persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact your health, your emotions, and your ability to function in important areas of life. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder.”
Part of what makes statements like those expressed in the weightroom sign so problematic is that eating disorders, although non-discriminatory, are most common among teenage girls. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the odds of a female adolescent developing an eating disorder were more than double that of a male. This double-standard is a result of sexism at play in girls’ everyday lives, but boys can also struggle with unhealthy food-related issues.
While Episcopal has never failed to support its students in terms of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, we feel as though there is a lack of awareness and aid offered towards eating disorders. Only on National Eating Disorder day is there a formal announcement that is dedicated to spreading awareness about them, and while the message is consistently powerful and moving, there is a lack of representation from other members of the community. Even more troublesome is the link between ED’s and other mental health issues. NIMH’s data reflects that between bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating disorder diagnoses, there was an average of 76.5% comorbidity, the presence of two or more conditions at the same time, with any other mental health disorder, including anxiety, depression, impulse control, and substance abuse disorders. If EA is willing to actively offer support to these conditions, why is there little to no mention of eating disorders in conversations about student support?
There is an argument to be made that the administration does not know how widespread eating disorders are within the Episcopal community. But given that at least 10 in every 100 women, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, suffers from an eating disorder, then statistically speaking, many female EA students are struggling.
It is not Episcopal that is responsible for the onslaught of body-issues that girls face as they mature, but rather modern teenage culture. The Main Line itself perpetuates an unhealthy beauty standard, pressuring girls to conform themselves into states of “perfection”. Social media has long been blamed for its role in creating unhealthy expectations for young girls to aspire towards. But even the most thick-skinned of girls give in to the occasional calorie-counting and are subject to the conversations of peers: “I can’t eat that, it’s too many calories”, “I ate too much. I’ll need to work out extra tonight”, “I’m hungry but I’m not going to eat”, “I was so stressed I over-ate last night”, “I don’t have time for lunch today”, “I only drank coffee today.” As a girl at Episcopal, the culture of eating disorders is simply inescapable.
That is not to say that there are not preventative measures already in place. Sage dining, for example, is actively considerate towards the subject of eating disorders by not posting the calories of their meals. “Posting calories abets and exacerbates eating disorders among young people, and we see that as violating our mission,” explains the Sage Dining Services website. “At one time, we did post this information. To our dismay, the heads of some of our girls’ schools asked us to stop, explaining that posting calories, in their words, allowed students with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia to ‘keep score’ on how they were doing. Abiding by their wishes, we dropped this labeling.”
Still, there is not a clear path being directly offered for students who are struggling with an ED. Perhaps even more concerning is this scenario: a student with ED tendencies and a mindset of not needing help, combined with an administration not explicitly offering it. This is what allows the perpetuation of unhealthy eating habits at EA. We know the administration genuinely wants what is best for Episcopal students, and that is why we are asking for more direct support to be offered for those struggling with eating disorders. We’d like them to start by taking down the sign in the weightroom.